Eclipses, past and future : with general hints for observing the heavens

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Transit of Venns, December 6, 1882, from ingress to sunset.
See pp. 86, 110.

ECLIPSES,

PAST AND FUTURE;

WITH

GENERAL HINTS FOR OBSERVING THE
HEAVENS.

\y^

BY THE

EEV. S. j; JOHNSON, M.A., F.R.A.S,

//

RECTOE 'OP UPTON-HELIONS, DEVON.

JAMES PAKKER AND CO.

1874.

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PREFACE.

TT was originally my intention to bring out two
works; one, a description of eclipses, past and fu-
ture; the other, a cycle of celestial objects coming
within the range of a 4- inch telescope, such an instru-
ment being common with amateurs, and a very useful
size, large enough to shew what is worth examining,
and not too large to prevent portability. On after
thoughts, my plan was to abridge both works, and
publish them under the title of " Eclipses, Past
and Future; with General Hints for Observing the
Heavens."

With the solar eclipse of 1870 a considerable in-
terest was kindled as to such plisenomena, not a little
correspondence passed on the subject in the scientific
journals, and there were several inquiries about the
next solar eclipse that would be total in this country.
This led to certain communications to the " Times" by
Mr. Hind in 1871 and 1872. In the first part of the
following little work, notices of the eclipses are col-
lected from the earliest days to the present time.
A selection may be made from them by those who
wish to compute from the tables of Leverrier and
Hansen. All the eclipses in the " Saxon Chronicle "

VI PREFACE.

are also stated, and the results of calculations I have
made respecting them. No description of these eclipses
seems, hitherto, to have been published. An account
of the eclipses for the next forty years will be found,
commencing on page 83, and of those of the sun for
a long future period. The second part contains brief
notes on the planets, meteorology, &c. ; double-stars
and nebulae, within reach of small telescopes, such as
many are possessed of, but use little, from disinclina-
tion to wade through Smyth's "Cycle,'' and similar
long works. It is my hope that this little book may
fall into the hands of such persons.

SAMUEL J. JOHNSON.

UrxoN-HELioNs Rectory,
Crediton, Devon.
January 19, 1874.

CONTENTS,

INTRODUCTION.

PAGE

Utility and Interest of observing Eclipses . . 1

CHAPTER I.
The Most Ancient Eclipses, including those of
Ptolemy . 8

CHAPTER II.
The Most Remarkable Eclipses of Antiquity : those
OF Thales, Larissa, Xerxes, Thucydides, Pelopidas,
Arbela, Agathocles, Pydna, J. C^SAR, Herod . 13

CHAPTER III.
Other less important Eclipses in the years b.c. . 22

CHAPTER IV.
Eclipses in each century of the Christian Era, to
the present date 24

CHAPTER V.
The Present Prospects of the Amateur ... 69

CHAPTER VI.
Cueiosities in Lunar Eclipses, Bright and Black
Total Eclipses, Horizontal Eclipses, The Return
OP Cycles 72

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

PAGE

CuEious Phenomenon in the slightly total Solar
Eclipse, June 29, 1927 . . ' . . .82

CHAPTER VIII.
Future Eclipses 83

PAET II.
INTRODUCTION.

A Cycle of Celestial Objects for a Small Tele-
scope 95

The Sun 97

Mercury . .98

Venus 102

The Earth Ill

The Moon 115

Mars 118

The Minor Planets 120

Jupiter . 121

Saturn 124

Uranus and Neptune 125

The Aurora 126

Meteors 128

Double Stars and Nebula 131

INTRODUCTION.

T'HE word 'eclipse' is derived from the Greek eKkeiyln^,
a failing or fainting, as the moon, when she got
immersed in the earth's shadow, was imagined by-
many of the ancients to be swooning away. Perhaps
there is nothing in astronomy that affords to the gene-
rality of mankind such ocular demonstration of the
truth of the science, as the agreement of the prediction
of an eclipse of the sun or moon with its appearance in
the heavens, as to time, degree of obscuration, and other
circumstances connected with the phsenomenon. Al-
though the earth and the other planets perform their
respective periods round the sun in nearly equal times,
yet, from the elliptical figures of their orbits, and their
mutual attractions, their motions are far from being equa-
ble ; and when these bodies are viewed from the earth,
the inequality becomes still more apparent, as, in that
case, they are sometimes direct, sometimes stationary,
and at other times retrograde. But, as regards our satel-
lite the moon, her nearness to the earth renders the in-
equalities of her orbit more apparent than those of any
other heavenly body : she has, besides, a considerable
parallax, which causes her place in the heavens, as seen
from the surface of the earth, to be very different from
that in her orbit, or when viewed from the centre
of our globe. For these reasons, the computations of

B

2 Introduction.

eclipses, especially solar ones, are attended with con-
siderable labour and difficulty.

It has been ascertained, that if the latitude of the
moon be less than 1° 23' at the time of new moon,
there will be an eclipse of the sun ; and, if less than
51' 57" at the time of full moon, there will be an
eclipse of the moon. There cannot be less than two
eclipses in any year, or more than seven; and we are
unable to mention any year in which this maximum
number was attained. We suppose the reader to be
acquainted, more or less, with the theory of eclipses.
It is not our design to enter here into a description of
the periodical equations and secular equations of the
moon's motions, simply to give a brief description of
eclipses on record in ancient and mediaeval times, as
such may prove of use to some for purposes of reference.

In astronomy, eclipses of the moon are of great use
for ascertaining the periods of her motions; in geo-
graphy, the longitudes of places are found by eclipses,
especially by those of the moon, as they only are of
equal size and duration at all places where they are
seen. In chronology, both solar and lunar eclipses
serve to determine the time of a past event ; for there
are so many particulars observable in each eclipse, with
respect to its magnitude, the places where it is visible
(if of the sun), and the time of day or night, that it is
impossible there can be two solar eclipses, in the
course of many ages, alike in all particulars. There
is a degree of uncertainty attached to many early his-
torical records. "When, however, a historian has men-
tioned some fact as occurring coincidently with an
eclipse, it is competent for astronomy to speak about

Introduction. 3

the date. For this purpose it is not necessary to
employ the lengthened and intricate tables of the pre-
sent day, unless we wish to ascertain the exact mile on
the earth's surface where the limit of totality would
pass. In the following calculations, the tables given
in the Encyclopcedia Britannica, 8th edit., have been
used. After trying them on a great number of
known eclipses, the author was convinced they would
answer well for the object he had in view.

In less civilized ages, it is not to be wondered at
that great solar eclipses should have caused consider-
able alarm. It is well they did so, as the accounts we
have of them are of great use in the recovery of the
dates of ancient events. At the present day, many of
the Hindoos, Chinese, &c., beat gongs, and raise the
most hideous sounds, to drive away the great monster
they fancy is devouring the sun or moon, when they
see its face gradually eaten away by an eclipse. Even
among cultivated nations, the effects of consternation
are sometimes great on the occasion of a total eclipse
of the sun. To give only one instance, we may men-
tion the death of a woman in Iowa from fright, at that
which took place there in the summer of 1869. A total
solar eclipse still remains the grandest and most ap-
palling sight in nature. The bursting forth of the
stars in the daytime, the apparent descending of the
sky like a black mantle, the sun surrounded by its
corona, combine in forming a scene that can never be
effaced from the memory of the beholders. In the
present day, such phaenomena are of the greatest use,
not merely for the correction or verification of our
astronomical tables, but also for ascertaining the con-

4 Introduction.

stituents of the sun's atmosphere, and the nature of
the gorgeous corona, with which he is surrounded
during the total phase. When, therefore, a total solar
eclipse takes place now, in any available or habitable
part of the world, it is pretty sure to be observed with
more or less care. In fact, we may say, that just what
a grand review, or a great victory, the Derby-day, or
a coronation, are to terrestrial folk, such is a great
eclipse to the lover of astronomical lore. A few mo-
ments of total darkness are more precious to him than
the most splendid illumination, or the most glorious
fireworks which ever followed a royal marriage or an
honourable peace. He leaves the limits of his obser-
vatory, and neglects all his ordinary duties, to be pre-
sent at such an extraordinary occurrence. He then
expects to see, during two or three minutes of total
darkness, phaenomena so interesting and so rare, that
he takes his departure into distant lands, and runs the
risk of cloudy skies and bad weather, so long as there
is a chance of catching a glimpse of the sun and moon
at the time of obscurity. The positions of the sun
and moon are of the utmost consequence in the system
of the world. The mariner depends on the latter body
for information of his whereabouts, when far away
from land and lighthouse. Apart, however, from this
verification of theory, of which eclipses of the sun form
the surest and simplest test, it may be added that the
appearances which are observed when the moon is
exactly between the sun and earth, and when it com-
pletely cuts off the light of the great central luminary,
are of such a curious character, that they are found de-
serving of the most careful scrutiny. They give very

Introduction, 5

considerable information respecting the physical con-
stitution of the sun, and of its atmosphere, of which
we have gained much knowledge, within the last few
years, by this means, and which phenomena, though
not yet completely explained, may serve as data for
future observers, exactly in the same manner as the
observations of ancient eclipses, rudely given though
they may be, serve as a test for the accuracy of the
present tables of the sun and moon, and form a system
of landmarks in all our chronological researches. The
ancients used to foretell eclipses by means of the Chal-
daean Saros, or period of 223 lunations, and by Meton's
cycle of 19 years. By these means a good idea might
be got of the lunar eclipses that were going to happen.
As to solar ones, only the time in which they would
take place in some part of the world could be men-
tioned ; as the exact locality in which they fall cannot
be foretold by cycles.

We may trace forward the progress to accuracy in
the tables for this purpose. Even the Burmese, Chinese,
and other Oriental nations, have their methods for
ascertaining the eclipses of the heavenly bodies. In
the author's possession is a curious old book by Cypri-
anus Leovitius, the Bohemian astronomer, who lived
above three centuries ago. This gives drawings and
descriptions of all the eclipses, for Augsburg, from
1554 to 1606. (It also contains a figure and descrip-
tion of the comet of 1556.) Leovitius mentions, at the
commencement of his work, that he took the time of
a total lunar eclipse on June 5, 1555, from the tables
of George Purbach, and was " so deceived that it hap-
pened more than half-an-hour too late.'' In the rooms

6 Introduction.

of the Royal Astronomical Society in London there
is a curious map of the path of the total eclipse of
1715, by Dr. Halley, in which he places London only
just within the southern boundary of the total phase,
and says it was not certain whether it would be total
there. Observation proved it was total there for 3 min.
11 sec, so the limit must have gone a considerable
distance south of London. Passing on about half-a-
century, we come to 1764, when an annular eclipse
took place on a Sunday morning in April, which ex-
cited considerable attention in England. A calcula-
tion from the best lunar tables then extant, gave the
north-west limit of the annular appearance to pass
a few miles to the south-west of Greenwich. At Ox-
ford, where it was expected the eclipse would have
been just annular, the least distance of the solar cusps
was found to be about two-sevenths of the whole cir-
cumference of the sun. Mr. Murray, of Chatham, with
a 12-foot telescope, found the eclipse barely annular
at half-past ten, the light of the sun below the moon
being but just visible, and scarcely the breadth of
a hair in the telescope. It was hence inferred that
the limit of the annulus passed over Rochester bridge.
This will be sufficient to shew the progress that was
made, as years rolled on, towards perfecting the tables
of the sun's and moon's places.

Tycho Brahe had an idea that the diameter of the
moon could never exceed that of the sun, and con-
sequently that there could never be a really total
eclipse of the sun. He need not, therefore, have been
so proud of his instruments, as he appears to have
been, if one may judge from his Historia Celestis.

Introduction. 7

This idea about the diameters, there are persons who
do not understand astronomy hold persistently at the
present day. But the semi-diameter of the moon may
be greater than the semi-diameter of the sun by about
a minute of arc, as seen by us.

CHAPTEE I.

THE MOST ANCIENT ECLIPSES, INCLUDING THOSE
OF PTOLEMY.

'pHE earliest eclipse spoken of, is one in the reign of
Chou-kang, in the twenty-second century before
Christ, to which three or four different dates has
been assigned, b.c. 2169, 2158, and 2127, Oct. 13, have
been given as the date. On the last mentioned, I find
an eclipse visible in China did occur, but I have not
looked into the circumstances of it ^.

The Chinese records make no mention of any other
eclipse till we come down to the year 776 B.C., in
the time of Yew- Wang, who is said to have reigned
from 781 to 769 b.c. The tables I employed give
a small eclipse on the sun, in the more northern parts
of what is now called China, on Sept. 6, 776, about
sunrise, but no other eclipse that year. An examina-
tion of the preceding and subsequent years did not
seem to render a satisfactory result.

There is a statue in the British Museum of Assur-
nazirpal, king of Nineveh, pointing to the crescent
moon, which is separated from a figure of the sun by

» This eclipse has been made the subject of the following college
rhyme, from the alleged discomfiture of the Mandarins Ho and Hi : —
♦* Here lie the bodies of Ho and Hi
Whose fate though sad was risible,
Being hanged because they could not spy
Th' eclipse which was invisible."

The most Ancient Eclipses, 9

an emblem signifying fire. Mr. Hind has considered
this to be an eclipse, and has mentioned the eclipses
of 884 and 923 b.c. as answering for the purpose,
especially the first-named. It seems doubtful, how-
ever, whether an eclipse is alluded to at all.

The first eclipse of which we have a clear record
is one which happened at Nineveh in the year 763 b.c,
which would be in the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah,
and in the earlier part of the life of the prophet Isaiah.
The record of this eclipse was discovered on the As-
syrian tablets in the British Museum. It took place
on June 15, and my computation makes it to have
been almost total at Nineveh about 9h. 47m. a.m.,
corresponding as to size, and pretty nearly as to time,
with the result Mr. Hind published in the *' Times."
It was evidently a startling phsenomenon, and possibly
total at Nineveh, as the inscription is underlined.
This is, accordingly, a very important eclipse for the
correction of the astronomical tables, as the result
obtained places Nineveh a little out of the totality.

Till the discovery of this Nineveh eclipse of 763 b.c,
the most ancient eclipses on record were obtained from
Ptolemy. He mentions in his Almagest three of
the moon, which were observed at Babylon by the
Chaldseans. The first of these occurred in the first
year of Mardokempadius, the 27th of the era of
Nabonnassar, in the Egyptian month Thoth, 721 b.c,
the date of the kingdom of Israel being extinguished
by Shalmaneser. The eclipse was total. The next
two took place in the following year, and were only
partial. These ancient eclipses have been of the greatest
value, as they indicate an acceleration or hastening of

10 The most Ancient Eclipses.

the moon's motion round the earth ; that is to say, the
moon is in advance of the place it ought to occupy in
the sky, in other words, her revolution round us is
accomplished in a little shorter time now than in
earlier ages. About this period, the shadow went
back on the dial of Ahaz, fifteen years were added to
the life of Hezekiah, and the Babylonians sent a mes-
sage to him. Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer,
considered this miracle to have caused the Chaldseans
to observe eclipses more diligently; and he adds, very
sagaciously, that " Hipparchus and Ptolemy would have
had no reason to mention these eclipses, if they could
have found any more ancient ones, happening at an
earlier period, since from them the motions of the sun
and moon could be more certainly deduced."

We may here mention that an attempt has been
made to explain the retrogression of the shadow on
the dial of Ahaz by an eclipse of the sun. It is true,
we have no idea what was the particular construction
of this dial, and so we are ignorant of the precise
nature of the miracle. It is the first mention of the
measure of time by a dial in Holy Writ. The first
mention of an hour as a part of time, is when we read
of Daniel (ch. iv. ver. 19) that he was " astonied for
one hour, and his thoughts troubled him." Herodotus
observes that the Grreeks learned from the Egyptians
the method of dividing the day into twelve parts ; but
whether the Hebrews learnt it from the Egyptians, or
the Egyptians from the Hebrews, cannot now be known.
It has been asked whether the miracle of the sun going
back was wrought on the sun, or only on the dial.
Some have observed that not a word is mentioned

The most Ancient Eclipses. 11

of the sun going back, but only of the shadow on
the dial ; which might have been effected by the Al-
mighty's power, by altering the position of the dial,
so as to make the shadow retire, without changing the
motion of the sun itself. The Jewish writers, however,
and Archbishop Usher consider, on the other hand,
that the sun and heavenly bodies went back. But con-
jectures about the celestial machinery employed in this
case must be as futile, as in the case of Joshua calling
on the sun and moon to stand still.

Returning to the eclipses of Ptolemy. According
to the tables in the Uncyclopcedia, this one of 721 B.C.
began at Babylon about 7h. 7m., totality came on
8h. 10m., and ceased 9h. 51m., and the shadow cleared
off lOh. 54m.

Two others of those recorded by Ptolemy deserve
attention, that of 383 b.c, Dec. 23, the occurrence of
which he marks by saying that it was when Phanos-
trates was ruler at Athens, in the month of Possideon,
in the 366th year of Nabonnassar ; the other 201 B.C.,
Sept. 22. Ferguson has the following remarks on
these : " There are two ancient eclipses of the moon
recorded by Ptolemy from Hipparchus, which afford
an undeniable proof of the moon's acceleration. The
first of these was observed at Babylon, Dec. 23, 383
B.C., when the moon began to be eclipsed about half-
an-hour before the sun rose, but by most of our tables,
the moon was set at Babylon about half-an-hour be-
fore the eclipse began ; in which case, there could be
no possibility of observing it. The second eclipse was
observed at Alexandria, Sept. 22, 201 b.c, where the
moon rose so much eclipsed that it must have begun

12 The most Ancient Eclipses.

half-an-hour before she rose ; whereas by most of our
tables, the beginning of this eclipse was not till about
10 min. after the moon rose at Alexandria. Had these
eclipses begun and ended whilst the sun was beneath
the horizon, we might have imagined, as the ancients
had no certain way of measuring time, they might
have been so far mistaken in the hours, that we could
not have laid stress on the accounts given by them.
But, as in the first eclipse the moon was set, and con-
sequently the sun risen, before it was over ; and in the
second eclipse the sun was set, and the moon not risen
till some time after it began; these are such circum-
stances as the observers could not possibly be mistaken
in/' Now, if we examine these eclipses by the tables
in the Encyclopcedia, we find on Dec. 23, 383 b.c,
a very small obscuration on the moon, about J to 7h.
local time, so the moon did " begin to be eclipsed be-
fore the sun rose.'' The eclipse of 201 b.c. happened
within a very few days of the September equinox. So
the sun would set, and the moon would rise about 6h. or
a little after. The tables give an eclipse on this even-
ing, the middle at Alexandria about J past 6h., mag-
nitude between six and seven tenths on the lower limb.
While, therefore, they indicate the phsenomenon to have
begun sooner than it probably did, they shew the moon
considerably eclipsed at its rising, as Ptolemy records.
The following is a list of the eclipses mentioned by
Ptolemy, with the size expressed in digits or twelfth
parts of the moon's diameter ; M = morning, A =
afternoon : —

B.C. 721, Mar. 19, A. total; b.c 720, Mar. 8, A. 3
digits ; same year Sept. 1, A. 6 dig. ; b.c. 621, April 22,

The most remarkable Eclipses of Antiquity. 13

M. 3 dig. ; B.C. 523, July 16, A. 6 dig. ; b.c. 502, Nov.
19, A. 3 dig.; b.c. 491, April 25, A. 2 dig.; b.c. 383,
Dec. 23, M. very small; b.c. 382, June 15, A. very
small; same year, Dec. 12, A. total ; b.c. 201, Sept. 22,
A. 8 dig.; B.C. 200, Mar. 19, A. total, and Sept 11, M.
total; B.C. 174, April 30, A. 7 dig.; b.c 141, Jan. 27,
A. 3 dig. ; A.D. 125, April 5, A. 2 dig.; a.d. 133, May
6, A. total; A.D. 134, Oct. 20, A. 10 dig.; a.d. 136,
Mar. 6, M. 6 dig.

CHAPTEE 11.

THE MOST REMARKABLE ECLIPSES OF ANTIQUITY.

Thales' Eclipse, 585 b.c, May 28. — One of the
most celebrated eclipses in ancient history is that
said to have been foretold by Thales of Miletus. This
he would be enabled to do by the Saros, or period
of eighteen years, as there had been an eclipse in 603,
eighteen years previously. Herodotus (i. 74), relates
that this eclipse put an end to the war between the
Medes and Lydians, that it happened as the battle
was at its heat, the day was suddenly turned into
night ; GVvrjveiKe wcrre rrjs fJ^d')(r}9 (rvveaTeooo-Tjs Tr)V
7]fiep7)v i^airlvrjf; vvKra ^evkaOai ; that the Medes and
Lydians seeing this, ceased from fighting, and hastened
to make peace, which they confirmed by a marriage.
Now, the general inference from the description of
Herodotus would be, that a total eclipse is here sig-
nified. But supposing a large partial one would an-
swer, computation shews there is only one eclipse

14 The most remarkable Eclipses of Antiquity,

about this time that will answer for that of Thales.
It should here be mentioned that the precise spot
where the battle was fought is uncertain. Some con-
sider it was about the river Halys, others place it
about the gulf of Issus. On May 28, 585 b.c, there
was a notable eclipse of the sun in these parts. This
has accordingly been given as the eclipse of Thales
by Pliny, Scaliger, Ricciolus, Newton, Ferguson, and
nearly every other astronomer. Certain chronologists,
grounding their opinion on some merely historical
evidence, have given other dates. Clinton and Hales
have said 603 b.c, Prideaux 601 b.c. It has also
been considered the eclipse of 610, Sept. 30, would an-
swer. But when Hansen's lunar tables were published,
this was found not to be the case. I find, by cal-
culation, its magnitude at any point where the battle
could have been fought was not sufficient to cause
anything approaching the gloom described by the his-
torian, and also that the eclipse of 603, May 18,
would be of a much smaller magnitude, the totality
passing a long way south of Asia Minor. As the
eclipse of 585 b.c. comes out total in these parts
a few minutes before six in the evening, and as there
appears to have been no great eclipse in any ap-
proximate year, the reader is left to draw the in-
ference.

Eclipse of Larissa. — Xenophon, in the third book
of his Anabasis, chap, iv., speaks of a phsenomenon,
which was clearly an eclipse of the sun. He mentions
a deserted city of considerable size called Larissa. It
is now identified by the great Assyrian ruins called
Nimrod, after the name of the mighty hunter men-

The most remarkable Eclipses of Antiquity. 15

tioned in Scripture. Xenophon states that the Medes
formerly inhabited this town, which must be, of course,
after the end of the Assyrian empire ; that " when the
Persians got the empire from the Medes, their king
besieged it, and could not take it, rfkiov he vecpekrj
TrpOKoXvyjraaa rj^dviae fJLe)(pL^ ol avOpayiroL e^ekiirovy
Koi oi/Tft)? eaXo); but gloom having covered the sun,
made it disappear, until the inhabitants left (the city),
or, perhaps, ' lost courage, and so it was taken/ "
Sir G. B. Airy has found the eclipse occurred on
May 19, 667 b.c.

Xerxes^ Eclipse^ 478 b.c, Feb. 17. — At the time of
the great expedition of Xerxes against Greece, there was
an important solar eclipse. Herodotus (lib. vii. cap. 37)
refers it to the time when the Persian army set out
in the spring from Sardis to Abydos. " As it was on
the point of setting out, the sun, quitting his seat
in the heavens, disappeared, though there were no
clouds, and the air was perfectly serene, and, instead
of day, it became night." The historian goes on to
say that Xerxes was troubled about this, but the magi
told him it only meant that they were going to eclipse
the cities of the Greeks. Arago, in his "Popular
Astronomy," (bk. xxii. ch. viii.,) remarks on it in these
words : " Historians have mentioned a total eclipse
of the sun, which happened in the year 480 before
our era, and which almost created a revolt in the army
of Xerxes." Tycho Brahe has also given 480 b.c,
and he remarks in his Historia Celestis : " Xerxes
crossed over into Greece this year, as spring drew
on. At this time, Herodotus asserts the sun was
darkened. But this must have happened without

16 The most remarkable Eclipses of Antiquity.

an eclipse, as there was none in the spring of this
year, or the former." Sir G. B. Airy sought to get
over the diflficulty by suggesting that the eclipse of
the moon in 478 b.c. was signified. There was no
eclipse of the sun in 480 b.c. In the former year,
481 B.C., April 19, M. Pingre has referred to one ; but
I find, on calculation, that the obscuration was but
a small portion of the sun's south limb at Susa in
the early morning. It has been considered that
the eclipse must have taken place at the departure of
Xerxes from Susa, and not from Sardis, for which
Herodotus has mistaken it. But as there was an
eclipse in 478, very large at Sardis, Hind has shewn,
somewhat conclusively, that this must have been the
plisenomenon, and hence that the date of the battle
of Salamis is two years more recent than commonly
supposed. There was an eclipse of rather more than
half the sun's disc on Oct. 2, 479 b.c, which Hind
considers to be the one occurring at the time CJeom-
brotus consulted the oracles at Sparta.

Thucydides^ three Eclipses ^ 431 or 433 b.c; 424;
413. — (1.) It is said that Anaxagoras foretold the
eclipse of the sun which was seen at Athens in the
first year of the Peloponnesian war. Thucydides
(bk. ii. ch, 28) says that it happened in the summer,
after noon-day, that the sun assumed a crescent shape,
and some of the stars shone out. From this account,
a great obscurity would naturally be inferred. The
eclipse of 431 b.c, Aug. 3, has always been pointed
to as that here indicated. Many astronomers have
asserted it was total. Even Sir J. Herschel, in a note
in his " Outlines of Astronomy," has fallen into this

The most remarkable Eclipses of Antiquity, ] 7

error; but he adds, "the eclipse deserves to be re-
computed." A very slight examination would soon
shew that it could nowhere be total ; the moon's semi-
diameter not coming up to the sun's. I only obtain
a magnitude of about seven-tenths of the sun's di-
ameter for this eclipse of 431 b.c, and hence the diffi-
culty arises, how are we to explain, aaripcop tlvwv
iKipavevTcov. Yenus, no doubt, would come out. It
would be seen sooner in an oriental sky than in an
English. Ad. Smyth, at Bedford, saw it distinctly
with the naked eye during the eclipse of 1836. Similar
instances might be mentioned. The other eclipses
taking place about this period, were, (1.) a small one
on Nov. 4, 426 b.c, on the sun's south limb ; (2.) one
on March 30, 433 b.c, larger than that of 431 accord-
ing to these tables, and happening two hours after
noon, would better answer the description of Thu-
cydides than that of 431 b.c, which was about 5h.
Plutarch ( Vita Periclis) refers to this eclipse, and says
that Pericles, finding the pilot of his ship terrified,
threw his cloak over him, and asked him what was
the difference, except that something bigger than his
cloak caused the eclipse. As both Plutarch and Thu-
cydides refer to the darkness in so unmistakeable
a manner, is it possible that the universally received
date of 431 b.c must be given up ? If the eclipse
of March 30, 433, is the larger eclipse, and the cor-
rect one, it need not be objected that it would hardly
be summer, for Athens is not a northern climate ;
and, in the following eclipse, the historian distinctly
says the time was the beginning of summer, while
March 21 is the date that has been always given.

c

18 The most remarkable Eclipses of Antiquity.

The only difficulty would be, that the second eclipse
seems to have been in the eighth year of the war.

(2.) The second eclipse spoken of by Thucydides was
at the time of an expedition of the Athenians against
Cythera (bk. iv. ch. 52). "At the commencement of
the subsequent summer there was somewhat of an
eclipse of the sun, eKknre<i tc, about the new moon,
and at the commencement of the month there was
an earthquake." The expression is peculiar, and
clearly indicates an eclipse only partial. Accordingly,
for that on Mar. 21, 424 b.c, I obtain a magnitude
that will coincide with the description of the historian.

(3.) The last one is of the moon, about the time of
the defeat of Nicias and the Athenians at Syracuse.
That on the evening of Aug. 27, 413 b.c, which ap-
pears to be signified here, was total. One on Sept. 8,
414 B.C., has also been brought forward as answering
for the purpose, but the moon would scarcely be risen.
Plutarch says this eclipse terrified Nicias very much,
for though the people could understand a solar one,
they could not make out "how the moon, when at the
full, should suddenly lose her light and assume such
a variety of colours." He mentions that Anaxagoras
was the first to point out what overshadowed the moon,
but that his treatise was not much known, as it had
to be communicated with caution, from fear of the
people.

Eclipse of Felopidas, b.c. 364.— At the time when.
Pelopidas was starting on an expedition into Thessaly
against Alexander of Pherse, who had ruined certain
cities there, Plutarch relates the sun was eclipsed, and
the city of Thebes was covered with darkness in the

The most remarkable Eclipses of Antiquity. 19

daytime. Arago has given 375 B.C. for the date, and
calls it total, but a search through the new moons
from 364 to 376 b.c, inclusive, shewed me there was
no solar eclipse visible at Thebes in 375. The eclipse
evidently occurred on the morning of July 13, 364 B.C.,
when upwards of three-fourths of the sun's diameter
was under obscuration there about \ to 9h.

Eclipse of Arbela, 331 b.c, Sept. 20. — Eleven days
before the victory of Alexander over Darius at Arbela,
in Assyria, there was an eclipse of the moon, men-
tioned by Plutarch and Pliny. The moon became
totally immersed in the earth's shadow, and the middle
was about J past 8h.

Eclipse of Agathocles, 310 b.c. (Referred to by Dio-
dorus Siculus, lib. xx. cap. 1 ; Justin, lib. xxii. cap. 6). —
On the second day of the voyage of Agathocles from
the harbour of Syracuse to the coast of Africa, a nota-
ble eclipse of the sun is recorded to have taken place.
Stars were visible on all sides. Most calculations have
indicated the line of totality to have run a consider-
able distance south of Syracuse. I make the greatest
phase to have occurred there 6h. 55m. morn., and with
only a very thin crescent of light uncovered ; according
to which totality would pass but little to the south-
ward of Syracuse, and Agathocles and his party would
be completely involved in it.

Eclipse at Pydna, 167 b.c, June 10. — Livy mentions
that Sulpitius Gallus, one of the Roman tribunes, fore-
told the eclipse on the eve of the battle of Pydna,
when Perseus, king of Macedonia, was conquered by
Paulus^milius, and Tycho Brahe says he was the first
of the Romans who foretold such a phsenomenou. Plu-

20 The most remarkable Eclipses of Antiquity.

tarch thus relates the circumstance : " When the
army had supped, and were thinking of nothing but
going to rest, on a sudden the moon, which was then
at full, and very high, began to be darkened, and after
changing into various colours, was at length totally
eclipsed." The Romans, upon this, made a noise with
brazen vessels, and held up lighted torches in the air
to recover the moon's light, "but the Macedonians
were seized with horror." The eclipse on the after-
noon of June 21, 168 b.c, has been stated by Ferguson
and others as that on the eve of the battle of Pydna.
I find it began at 5h. 40m., totality coming on at
6h. 59m., and lasting till 8h., and the eclipse ending
9h. 19m. ; consequently, a great part of the phaenome-
non would take place before the moon was risen. This
would not at all agree with Plutarch's account. He is
very accurate, and says the moon was " very high '*
when it began to be darkened, and the army was going
to rest. There is no doubt the eclipse on the night of
June 10-11, 167 b.c, is the right one. This would
come on about llh. 58m. night, and pass ofi* about
3h. 22ra. next morning, totality lasting 40m.

Eclipse of Julius Caesar j 51 B.C. — Tycho Brahe has
given B.C. 49 as the date of the eclipse that happened
on Julius Caesar's crossing the Rubicon. Dio Cassius,
lib. 41, says of it, ore tiXlchs avfiTras i^ekiire. On
March 7, however, of the above year, there was a large
solar eclipse in these regions, not total, but annular.

Eclipse of Herod, 1 b.c — While describing Herod's
last illness, Josephus, after speaking of his burning
alive Matthias and his companions, who had raised
sedition, says, " and that very night there was an

The most remarkable Eclipses of Antiquity. 21

eclipse of the moon." He enters into no particulars,
and this is the only eclipse of either of the luminaries
mentioned by him. It is oi the highest importance
for determining the death of Herod and Antipater,
and for the birth and chronology of our blessed Lord.
Tycho Brahe, Kepler, &c., have considered it happened
on March 13, b.c. 4. Calvisius, Hind, &c., have consi-
dered the eclipse of B.C. 1, January 9, to be referred to.
We shall be in a better position for forming an opinion
by comparing these two eclipses. That on the night of
January 9, b.c 1, was a fine total phsenomenon. The
moon's latitude being practically nil, she passed right
through the centre of the earth's shadow, an almost
unique instance ^. I find, by calculation, it would com-
mence lih. 17m. night, totality coming on at 12h. 16m.,
and lasting till Ih. 53m. ; and the obscuration would
have passed off by 2h. 53m. morn. I make the eclipse
of 4 B.C. to begin about Ih. 17m. a.m., and the greatest
magnitude at 2h. 34m. a.m., with scarcely half of the
moon's upper limb obscured. It seems highly impro-
bable that Josephus, who speaks only of one eclipse,
should refer to a small one happening far on into the
morning, while that of 1 b.c must have attracted some
attention. In the years 2 b.c and 3 b.c there was no
eclipse of the moon visible at Jerusalem.

•> Leovitius has drawn the moon passing through the umbra of the
earth centrally in the ecUpse of June 5, 1555, but his imperfect tables
would need yerification.

22 Eclipses of Romulus.

CHAPTEE III.

OTHER LESS IMPORTANT ECLIPSES IN THE YEARS B.C.

Going back into fabulous ages, Plutarch relates,
that, according to one Tarutius, an astrologer, Ro-
mulus was conceived in the 1st year of the 2iid
Olympiad, when there was a great eclipse of the sun.
Now the first Olympiad was in 776 B.C., and, curiously
enough, I find that on Nov. 28, 771 b.c, there was an
annular eclipse, very large across Italy, greatest mag-
nitude at Eome about \ to llh. a.m. The same his-
torian, speaking of the end of Romulus, says, "The
air on that occasion was suddenly convulsed and al-
tered in a wonderful manner, for the light of the sun
failed." Cicero mentions this darkness in a fragment
of his 6th book, De Repub. In the year 715 b.c, sup-
posed to be about the date of the death of Romulus,
I find the sun eclipsed at Rome on May 26 about ten
digits on the north limb, between six and seven in
the afternoon.

The following are referred to by Tycho Brahe, who
has collected them from Xenophon (Hellenics), Livy,
&c. I have ascertained, by approximate calculation,
that eclipses did take place on the dates mentioned.

B.C. 463, April 30. Eclipse of sun, alluded to by
Eusebius.

B.C. 406, April 14. Total eclipse of moon. Temple
of Minerva burnt at Athens.

B.C. 404, Sept. 3. Eclipse of sun. In time of Diony-
sius, tyrant of Syracuse.

other Eclipses in the years b.c. 23

Eclipse of EnniuSy b.c. 400, June 21. In Monthly
Not. Eoyal Ast. Soc, Jan. 1857, Professor Hansen's
results are given about the eclipse of Ennius, men-
tioned by Cicero, De Republica. It is said, **Nonis
Junii soli luna obstitit et nox." '' On the nones of
June, the moon and night were in opposition to the
sun." This singular expression would indicate an
eclipse near sunset, either of great magnitude, or total.
By the tables in the Encyclopcedia, the eclipse was
a trifle short of totality at Rome; greatest obscura-
tion 7h. 6m. (In the time of Ennius, on account of
the lunar years and intercalary month, the nones were
between June 5 and July 4.) Hansen makes the total
obscuration to end at Rome at 7h. 33m., the sun
setting 3 min. afterwards. Baron de Zach made the
eclipse only partial there, and the middle below the
horizon.

B.C. 394, Aug. 14. Eclipse of sun. The Persians
beaten by Conon in a sea engagement. Tycho Brahe
gives 393 b.c as the date, and so does Smyth in his
history of Greece. Ferguson gives 394 b.c, both as-
tronomers no doubt referring to the same year.

B.C. 219, Mar. 20. Eclipse of moon, seen in Mysia.
(Polybius.)

B.C. 203, May 5. Eclipse of sun, in consulship of
Cn. Servilius Caepio, and C. Servilius Gerainus, seen
in Latium.

B.C. 190, Mar. 14. Eclipse of sun, in consulship of
L. Conr. Scipio, and C. Laelius. It would be near
sunrise.

B.C. 188, July 17. Eclipse of sun, seen at Rome.

B.C. 104, July 19. Eclipse of sun, spoken of by
Julius Obsequens in his book, De Prodigiis. Happened

24 Eclipses of the First Century.

at the time the Cirabri crossed over into Spain, and
laid it waste.

About the time of the death of Julius Caesar, there
is recorded to have been an extraordinary dimness of
the sun. M. Arago has gone so far as to explain it by
an annular eclipse in the year 44 B.C. But calculation
shews there was no such phaenomenon. Arago must
have confused it with the annular eclipse that hap-
pened seven years earlier, when Caesar crossed the
Rubicon. Pliny makes use of the word defectus, but
he cannot be understood to mean an eclipse, as he
speaks of its lasting a whole year. TibuUus also says,
" the misty year saw the darkened sun drive pale
horses.^' Plutarch mentions the paleness of the sun
for a year after Caesar's death, but adds that for want
of the sun's heat the fruits did not come to maturity.
The whole phaenomenon was doubtless owing to some
peculiar meteorological condition of the atmosphere.

CHAPTEE TV.

ECLIPSES IN EACH CENTURY OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA,
TO THE PRESENT DATE.

The eclipses will now be arranged according to cen-
turies. My chief authority, in the following catalogue,
has been the Historia Celestis of Tycho Brahe. In
every instance, I have ascertained by calculation that
an eclipse took place at the date mentioned.

First Centubt.

A.D. 5. Small eclipse of the sun, on March 28, at
Rome, alluded to by Dion Cassius, lib. 55.

Eclipses of the First Century, 25

A.D. 14. Total eclipse of the moon on the morning
of Sept. 27. About the time that Drusus settled the
mutiny of the Pannonian legions.

A.D. 17. " Totus sol, Romse, et compluribus Italiae
locis visus fuit obscurari.'* — Ty. Br., Historia Ce/estis,
Misled by his imperfect tables, Tycho has considerably
exaggerated the size of this eclipse. The obscuration
at Eome seems to have been about two-thirds of the
southern part of the sun's disc. Little difference in
the semi-diameters.

The Crucifixion, and the eclipse of Phlegon. Phlegon,
a heathen writer, tells of a most extraordinary eclipse
of the sun in the 202nd Olympiad. Calculation shews
that it took place on Nov. 24 of the year 29, and that
it was total for a little more than a minute only, at
a point north of Palestine. As this was within a few
years of our Lord's Crucifixion, some sceptics, with
their usual shallowness of argument, have tried to ex-
plain away the supernatural darkness by a total eclipse
of the sun. But our Lord suffered at the time of the
Jews' Passover, which was always kept at the full
moon, when there could be no eclipse of the sun.
Again, the darkness in total eclipses of the sun can-
not be prolonged beyond seven minutes, nor over
a wider space than 180 miles ; whereas, the inspired
writers tell us the darkness at the Crucifixion lasted
three hours, and overspread the whole land of Judea.

"The dispute among chronologists," says Ferguson,
*' about the year of Christ's death, is limited to four or
five years at most. But as He was crucified on the day
of a paschal full moon, and on a Friday, all we have
to do, in order to ascertain the year of His death, is

26 Eclipses of the First Century.

to compute in which of those years there was a Pass-
over full moon on a Friday. The only Passover full
moon that fell on a Friday about this time, was on
April 3, in the 4746th year of the Julian period, wliich
was the 490th year after Ezra received his commission
from Artaxerxes Longimanus, and the year in which
the Messiah was to be ' cut off/ according to ancient
prophecy. This 490th year was the 33rd of our Lord's
age, reckoning from the common era of His birth."

A.D. 45, Aug. 1. Speaking of the Emperor Claudius,
Dion Cassius, lib. 60, says, " As there was going to be
an eclipse on his birthday, through fear of a disturb-
ance, as there had been other prodigies, he put fortli
a pubHc notice, not only that the obscuration would
take place, and about the time and magnitude of it,
but also about the causes that produce such an event."
The Romans of old were by no means noted for their
astronomical skill, troubling themselves about little
but military exploits. It is satisfactory, therefore, to
be able to record an exception to the general rale.
The above is the date Tycho Brahe gives from Peta-
vius, but I find the echpse on that morning was very
small at Eome. On Jan. 23, a.d. 44, however, there
would be a larger one, about the going down of the sun.

A.D. 47, Jan. 1. Total eclipse of moon, seen at E/Ome.
It is added, that in the same night an island rose up
in the -^gean sea.

A.D. 59, April 30. Large solar eclipse at Rome,
mentioned by Tacitus and Pliny. It was reckoned
among the prodigies, on account of the murder of
Agrippinus, by Nero. The sun would appear of a cres-
cent shape, being nine-tenths eclipsed about Ih. 40m.

Eclipses of the First Century, 27

A.D. 69, Oct. 18. Eclipse of moon, referred to by
Dion Cassius, lib. 65.

A.D. 72, Feb. 22. A horizontal eclipse of the moon.
Described further on.

Two phaenomena at the end of the first century-
seem perplexing. Philostratus [vita Apollon. Thian.)
says, that before the death of Domitian there ap-
peared at Ephesus a corona like the iris round the
sun, which obscured his light. Chambers ("Handbook
of Astronomy ") has called this the earliest mention of
the corona, which is seen round the sun during total
eclipses. Ricciolus has called it an annular eclipse,
and the account reads like one ; but there was no large
eclipse of the sun in any year about this time. It is
difficult to see what is alluded to, perhaps some pecu-
liar solar halo, or mock sun, or other meteorological
formation.

A.D. 83, Dec. 26. Plutarch speaks of an eclipse of
the sun, about noon, that caused considerable gloom,
the date of which is very hard to determine. After
examining a great number of years about this time,
I think it possible he may have had in mind the merely
partial eclipse of the above date. The magnitude at
Rome seems to have been about ten digits soon after
noon. Though the total phase would run a long way
to the southward, we may suppose, at this civilized
period, accounts might be brought of it as easily to
Rome, as of the total eclipse of 1842 from the south
of France to London. Kepler fancied the eclipse
of A.D. 113, June 1, might be meant. Tycho Brahe
supposed it occurred in a.d. 97, but there does not
seem to have been an eclipse visible at Rome that year,
except a total one of the moon in October.

28 Eclipses of the Second to the Fourth Centuries,

Second Century.

The last of the eclipses of Ptolemy were observed in
this century, those in the years 125, 133, 134, 136.

Under the date of a.d. 192, it has been brought for-
ward that Herodian says, "before the death of the
Emperor Commodus stars were seen in the daytime."
There was only a small solar eclipse at Rome on
Feb. 29, A.D. 192 ; nor have I discovered a large one
about that time.

Third Century. ,

A.D. 237, April 12. According to Julius Capitolinus,
" so great was this eclipse of the sun, that people
thought it was night, and nothing could be done with-
out lights." Ricciolus has remarked that it happened
about the time of the sixth persecution of the Chris-
tians, and when the young Gordian was proclaimed
emperor. Struyk has put it down as total at Bologna,
and he seems pretty correct. I obtain a great eclipse
at Rome about 5h. 21m. afternoon, the total phase
passing somewhat north of that city.

A.D. 291, May 15. In 7th year of Diocletian. Small
solar eclipse, seen at Carthage. Mentioned by Idatius.

Fourth Century.

A.D. 306, July 27. Large solar eclipse in the year
the Emperor Constantius died.

A.D. 316, July 6. An eclipse of the sun, seen at Con-
stantinople, near sunrise.

A.D. 324, Aug. 6. According to Calvisius, thirteen
cities in Campania were shattered by an earthquake in
this year, and there was so great an eclipse of the sun,
that the stars were seen at midday. The magnitude
seems to have been scarcely three-fourths of the sun's

Eclipses of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries. 29

disc in Campania. The greatest obscurity, soon after
3h. p.m., night, in an Italian sky, bring out one or two
of the planets.

A.D. 346, June 6. Eclipse of the sun, in the early
morning. (Theophanes.)

A.D. 347, Oct. 19. Eclipse of sun, "anno 11 Con-
stantii ut adnotat S. Hieronymus in Chronico Eusebii."
(Ty. Br., Hist. Cel,)

A.D. 348, Oct. 9. Eclipse of sun, seen at Byzantium.
(Theophanes.)

A.D. 364, June 16. Eclipse of sun, observed by Theon
at Alexandria, began 3h. 18m., ended 5h. 15m. ; also
Nov. 25, eclipse of moon, spoken of by Theon in Comm.
Ptolem.

A.D. 393, Nov. 20. Solar eclipse, seen at Rome and
Constantinople.

Fifth CENTtnRY.

A.D. 402, Nov. 11. Solar eclipse, mentioned by
Idatius in Fastis,

A.D. 410, June 18. About the time that Alaric, king
of the Visigoths, appeared before Rome, the gloom was
such that stars appeared in the daytime. The size of
this eclipse does not appear to have been very consider-
able ; say about two-thirds of the sun, a few minutes
after two o'clock. The central and annular phase must
have exhibited itself far south of Rome. The same
remarks will therefore apply to the darkness, as in the
eclipse of a.d. 324.

A.D. 418, July 19. This eclipse is remarkable, from
the fact that a comet, previously unseen, was detected
during the sun*s obscuration. It is the second ^case

30 Eclipses of the Fifth Century,

of this sort on record, the first being mentioned by
Seneca. In this instance, Philostorgius (xii. 8) says,
that " on July 19, towards the eighth hour of the day,
the sun was so eclipsed, that the stars were even visi-
ble. But, at the same time the sun was thus hid,
a light in the form of a cone was seen in the sky."
He also relates that the comet was seen for four months
afterwards, and that it passed, over the last star in the
Bear's tail. I obtain about 12h. 39m. noon, as the time
of the greatest phase at Constantinople, the place of
observation, and a thin crescent uncovered at the
northern part of the sun's face; according to which,
the eclipse would be total a little southward of this
point.

A.D. 451, Sept. 24. Moon eclipsed at its rising.
(Idatius in Fastis.)

A.D. 452, Sept. 15. Trithenius speaks of an eclipse
of the moon observed in the time of Merovseus (from
whom the first race of French kings are called Mero-
vingians). This will be the one referred to.

A.D. 453, Feb. 24. I take this to be the eclipse at
the time Attila and the Huns made incursions and
ravages. Projecting for Rome, about three-fourths
of the sun's disc would be eclipsed at sunset. iVccord-
ing to S.Gregory (Turonensis), "Then even the sun
appeared hideous, so that scarcely a third part of it
gave light. I believe, on account of such deeds of
wickedness, and shedding of innocent blood."

A.D. 458, May 28. Eclipse of sun observed this day.
(Idatius.)

A.D. 462, March 2. Lunar eclipse seen at Home
this night.

Eclipses of the Fifth and Sixth Centuries. 31

A.D. 485, May 29. An eclipse of the sun, referred by
Tycho to Jan. 13, 484, is said to have turned day into
night, causing " profound darkness, and the stars being
seen." There is no doubt that of May 29, 485, is the
correct phsenomenon (that of 484 not being visible in
Europe). It took place in the evening, and at Rome
would be partial, the central and total eclipse passing
far north of that city, but the place of observation
is not given.

A.D. 486, May 18. Eclipse of the sun, seen at Con-
stantinople {ex vita Procli).

Sixth Cen^tuey.
A.D. 538, Feb. 15. It may be interesting to know
which is the first eclipse on record, as seen in our own
land. As might be expected, we have no mention of
any till the sixth century. The "Saxon Chronicle"
thus alludes to it : " This day was the sun eclipsed
fourteen days before the calends of March, from early
morning till nine." I make the greatest obscura-
tion at London to have amounted to 8J digits about
7h. 43m. a.m. Tycho Brahe, from Calvisius, says it hap-
pened " in the fifth year of Henry, king of the West
Saxons, at the first hour of the day, till nearly the third,
or immediately after sunrise." 540 is given in the
translations of the " Saxon Chronicle" as the date of an
eclipse, which is said to have happened " on the 12th of
the calends of July, and in which the stars shewed
themselves full nigh half-an-hour after nine." The
middle of the eclipse comes out at about 7h. 37m. a.m.,
at London, magnitude two-thirds of the sun's diameter.
The moon's semi-diameter was almost as large as it

32 Eclipses of the Sixth Century.

could be; the sun's semi-diameter nearly as small as
possible. How are we to explain the notice of the stars
shewing themselves, when totality would take place far
south of this land ? It may be, the narrative was bor-
rowed from those who saw or heard of the phsenomenon
in more southerly countries. In two or three eclipses
already mentioned we have inferred that an obscura-
tion of two-thirds of the sun would be sufficient to
bring out planets in the pure skies of southern cli-
mates. But in England it would hardly be likely to
do so, even with a clear atmosphere. Those who wit-
nessed the eclipses of 1860, 1867, and 1870 will be able
to bear this out. Upon examining a few years preced-
ing and following a.d. 540, I found that on Sept. 1,
536, there was an eclipse attaining its maximum at
London about 12h. 37m. noon, the obscuration nine-
tenths of the sun's diameter. Though we may not be
entirely justified in substituting 536 for 540, yet Eng-
lish chronicles at this early date, sixty years before the
arrival of S. Augustine, would be very vague, and pro-
bably put together long afterwards, from confused
accounts. As it occurred in the middle of the day, the
gloom would be more striking, and the stars more
likely to be noticed. The Chronicle says the stars ap-
peared " full nigh half-an-hour after nine.'' This may
mean the ninth hour of the day, as it does elsewhere
in the same work. But that is not much to be re-
garded, considering the Chronicle says the great eclipse
of 1140 was "about the noon-tide of the day," and
calculation shews it was near 3h. p.m.

A.D. 581, April 4. Eclipse of moon, mentioned by
S. Gregory of Tours ; also the next.

Eclipses of the Sixth and Seventh Centuries, 33

A.D. 582. Two total eclipses of the moon, March 25
and Sept. 18.

A.D. 590. " The sun in the month of October was
so eclipsed, that it had scarcely the crescent of a five-
night-old moon to give light.'' (S. Gregory of Tours.)
The day I find to be Oct. 4, when there was a partial
eclipse across France, not very large.

A.D. 592, March 19. Eclipse of sun, in the time of
the Emperor Mauritius, ''verno tempore, ut habent
annales Constantinopolitani, Theophanes," &c.

A.D. 594, July 23. The exaggerated accounts of
chronicles state that this eclipse lasted from morning
to noon-day. But I find there was a solar eclipse
in the early morning.

A.D. 596, Jan. 4. Eclipse of sun, seen in France.
(Calvisius.)

Seventh Centitey.

A.D. 603, Feb. 12. Eclipse of sun, large at Paris.

A.D. 644, Nov. 4. Eclipse of sun, mentioned by
Cedrenus.

A.D. 650, Feb. 6. The year after Pope Martin held
a synod to condemn the Monothelite heresy, an eclipse
of the sun took place, which, according to the Danish
astronomer Tycho, was seen in England. I find more
than three-fourths of the sun's disc under obscuration
at London at half-past 3 this afternoon.

A.D. 664, May 1. "In this year the sun was eclipsed
on the 5th of the nones of May; and Earcenbryht,
king of the Kentish people, died, and Ecgbryht, his
son succeeded to the kingdom." (Saxon Chronicle.)
Kepler thought this eclipse was total in England, and,

D

34 Eclipses of the Seventh and Eighth Centuries,

calculating for London, I find the sun so far eclipsed
soon after 5h. in the evening, that there was only
a thin crescent uncovered on the southern limb, ac-
cording to which the totality would pass across this
country some distance to the north of London.

A.D. 661, July 2. A solar eclipse, " three years after
the southern Saxons in England embraced Christian-
ity," according to Calvisius. It took place in the early
morning, the sun rising eclipsed. About 4h. 23m. in
the morning, ijiiie-tenths of the upper limb would be
obscured.

A.D. 671, Dec. 7. This is the date Mr. Hind has
found for the eclipse of the sun at Medina, when the
Caliph Moawiyah was going to remove the pulpit
of Mahomet.

A.D. 680, June 17. An eclipse of the moon, men-
tioned by Anastasius ; according to Struyk, it was seen,
at Paris about midnight.

A.D. 683, April 16 (midnight). The account states
that the moon appeared covered with blood, and did
not emerge from its obscurity till cock-crowing.

A.D. 693, Oct. 5. An eclipse of the sun, very large
at Constantinople, where the stars were seen.

Eighth Centuey.

A.D. 716, April 12. "A wonder was brought about
in the moon in the time of Pope Gregory," says Anas-
tasius, " and she appeared like blood until the middle
of the night."

A.D. 718, June 3. A solar eclipse, seen in Spain,
spoken of by Isidorus; and very large at Constanti-
nople, according to Struyk.

Eclipses of the Eighth Century, 35

A.D. 733, Aug. 14. " In this year Ethelbald captured
Somerton, and the sun was eclipsed, and all the sun*s
disk was like a black shield ; and Acca was driven from
his bishopric." (Saxon Chronicle.) The eclipse must
be that of August 14, when I find a very large one
occurred, which, by the tables I used, was annular in
England, the greatest phase at London about J past 8h.
It is mentioned by several old writers, Tycho Brahe,
Calvisius, Struyk, &c. In Humboldt's CosmoSy vol. iii.
part 2, seventeen instances are given, in a note, of sud-
den diminutions of the light of day. Humboldt treats
them as if they were meteorological phsenomena, and,
doubtless, some may be disposed of in that way; as,
for instance, that in 45 b.c, about the death of Caesar,
but not all ; and in his notice under a.d. 733 the above
eclipse is probably alluded to. '' A year after the Arabs
had been driven back beyond the Pyrenees, as the re-
sult of the battle of Tours, the sun was darkened on
the 19th of August, in a terrifying manner." (Schnur
Chron.)

A.D. 734. Jan. 24. The next eclipse referred to in
the " Saxon Chronicle" is connected with the death
of a noted ecclesiastic. " In this year," the Chronicle
relates, *' the moon was as if it had been sprinkled
with blood, and Archbishop Tatwine and Beda c died."

•= Amid the animosities of the present day, we cannot refrain from
quoting the following with regard to S. Bade. As to " his desire that
prayers should be said for him, and masses offered after he was dead,
it is plain that he did not ask for them in expectation that they would
help his soul out of purgatory, for he died in joyful confidence that
his labours had been accepted, and that he should soon be with
Christ. He believed that in the Holy Communion it was fit that a re-

36 Eclipses of the Eighth Century,

I find a total eclipse of the moon, early on the above
morning, commencing about Ih. 2m. and ceasing 4h.
38m. The total phase, when the moon would appear
coppery, " as if sprinkled with blood," would last from
2h. 4m. to 3h. 37m. The eclipse would consequently
be a few months before the death of Venerable Bede,
for he is said to have lived on till the eve of Ascension-
day, May 26, that year ; then, seeing his end approach-
ing, to have taken farewell of those in the monastery,
and to have sunk down from his seat to the floor,
uttering as his last words, "Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost."

A.D. 752, July 30. An eclipse of the moon, seen in
England.

A.D. 753. An eclipse of the sun, seen on Jan. 9.
At the following full moon, on the night of Jan. 23,
" the moon was covered with a horrid black shield." —
(Tycho Brahe, and Calvisius.) As I find an eclipse of the
moon in the middle of this night, may we infer from
the description that this was one of those rare cases
when the moon becomes dark during the eclipse, in-
stead of assuming the copper tint?

A.D. 755, Nov. 23, 7h. An eclipse of the moon, seen
in England, which is said to have been " total close to

membrance should be m-ade of the faithful departed, and that God
should be entreated to keep them, as it is His will, in mercy and peace,
until the resurrection of the last day. It were well if such a prayer
had never been perverted to dangerous superstitions, and if it had
been thus retained, as it was in the Jfirst Communion Service put forth
for the use of the English Church after the Eeformation, the first
Prayer-book in King Edward VI.'s reign." — Churton's Early English
Church.

Eclipses of the Eighth and Ninth Centuries. 37

the eye of the Bull," (that is, the bright red star Alde-
baran). It is added, that the moon was the same dis-
tance on one side of the star when it began to be
obscured, as it was on the other side when it recovered
its light.

A.D. 760, Aug. 15. An eclipse of the sun was seen
at Constantinople on this day. (Theophanes.)

A.D. 764, June 4. An eclipse of the sun, about
midday, seen in France and England.

A.D. 787, Sept. 16. A large eclipse of the sun, seen
at Constantinople in the time of Constantine VI.,
emperor of the East.

A.D. 796, March 28. " In this year the moon was
eclipsed between cock-crowing and dawn, on the 5th
of the calends of April ; and Erdwulf succeeded to the
kingdom of the Northumbrians on the 2nd of the
ides of May." (Saxon Chronicle.) This would signify
between 3h. and 6h. in the morning, the method of
dividing the night into equal portions of three hours
each, being long continued by historians. The eclipse
began about 4h. a.m., was total for nearly an hour,
and ended about half-past 7h., so the moon would set
totally eclipsed.

Ninth Centuey.

A.D. 800, Jan. 15. " This year the moon was eclipsed
at 8h. in the evening, on the 17th day before the
calends of February ; and soon after died King
Bertram, and Ealdorman Worr." (Saxon Chronicle.)
I find a large lunar eclipse on this night, beginning
at seven o'clock, middle 8h. 34m., when nine-tenths

38 Eclipses of the Ninth Century.

of the moon's upper limb would be obscured, end
lOh. 8m.

A.D. 802, May 21. " This year was the moon eclipsed
at dawn on the 13th of the calends of January," (De-
cember 20). Some mistake about the date in the
translations of the " Saxon Chronicle." The December
full moon will not answer in 800, 801, nor 802. I
believe the eclipse referred to occurred on May 21,
802. It seems to have come on about 2h. 20m., that
mornin§^, and to have been almost total about 3h. 55m.,
near the time of sunrise.

A.D. 806, Sept. 1. " This year was the moon eclipsed
on the 1st of September ; Erdwulf, king of the North-
umbrians, was banished from his dominions, and Ean-
bert, Bishop of Hexham, departed this life." (Saxon
Chronicle.) I find a total eclipse of the moon this
evening lasted from about 8h. 25m. till after midnight.
Totality, according to the tables employed, was from
9h. 37m. to lOh. 59m.

A.D. 807, Feb. 11. An eclipse of the sun, amount-
ing to about three-fourths of his disc, was seen in
England and France about lOJh. a.m.

Two total eclipses of the moon were seen at Paris,
Feb. 26, Aug. 22.

A.D. 809, July 16. " In this year the sun was eclipsed
in the beginning of the fifth hour of the day, on the
17th of the calends of August, on the second day of
the week, the 29th of the moon." (Saxon Chronicle.)
I find an eclipse on July 16, not, however, very remark-
able ; greatest phase at London about 9h. 22m. a.m.,
when the magnitude was seven-tenths of the sun's
upper limb. North of London the eclipse would be

Eclipses of the Ninth Century. 39

larger. By the fifth hour of the day, we must, no
doubt, understand the fifth hour from sunrise. So the
account in the Chronicle is very exact.

A.D. 810. Three eclipses in France this year : a total
one of the moon on the evening of June 20 ; another
of the moon early in the morning of Dec. 14 ; and one
of the sun, November 30, which must have been very
large at Paris.

A.D. 812, May 14. Solar eclipse at Constantinople,
in the afternoon. (Ricciolus.)

A.D. 813, May 4. Eclipse of the sun, seen in Cap-
padocia early in the morning, in the last year of the
Emperor Michael Curopolites, and the first of Leo
Armen.

A.D. 817, Feb. 15. An eclipse of the moon was ob-
served early this evening at Paris, and it is added that
the same night a comet was noticed.

A.D. 818, July 7. Eclipse of sun, seen at Paris early
in the morning. (Aimoinus.)

A.D. 820, Nov. 23. Total eclipse of moon, seen in
France early this evening.

A.D. 824, March 18. Total eclipse of moon, seen in
France before the death of the pope. Paschal I.

A.D. 828. Two total eclipses of the moon mark this
year; one seen in France, July 1, very early in the
morning, the other in England and France on Christ-
mas morning. The " Saxon Chronicle" has this no-
tice of the last: "In this year the moon was eclipsed
on midwinter's mass night; and the same year. King
Egbert subdued the kingdom of the Mercians, and
all that was south of the Humber." It commenced
about a quarter-of-an-hour past midnight, and, after

40 Eclipses of the Ninth Century,

passing through a total phase for 40min., terminated
about 4h. a.m. It must have taken place about the
time historians say Egbert triumphed over all oppo-
nents, and united the several Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
into one powerful monarchy. It is just alluded to
in Tycho Brahe's Historia Celestis : " Eclipsis lunse
altera die Nativitatis Christi circa mediam noctem."

A.D. 831. Three eclipses observed in France this
year; a total one of the moon on the evening of
April 30, of which only the end would be visible; one
of the sun on May 16; and another total one of the
moon OQ October 24.

A.D. 840, May 5. In the troubled and unquiet
days of this century, we have the two most noted
eclipses of the sun on record in Europe, those of
A.D. 840 and 885. The darkness in each case has
been found, by recent investigations, to have lasted
longer than was once supposed possible in these lati-
tudes. In the eclipse of a.d. 840, total darkness con-
tinued upwards of five minutes across what is now
called Bavaria. It took place in the middle of the
day, and with the sun high in the sky. It was noticed,
as far back as this, how everything gradually changed
colour during the obscurity. We are told, "there
seemed no difference from the reality of night, that
the stars shone out without any sensible diminution
of light." It is recorded that Louis ^, the Emperor

* " Louis acquired the surname of ' the Pious.' He spent the whole
time of Lent in singing psalms, prayer, attendance on divine service,
distributing alms, and other works of piety ; so that he scarcely
mounted his horse, and took exercise, more than two or three daya
the whole time." — Palmer,

Eclipses of the Ninth Century. 41

of the West, died a little while after it, and he seems
never to have recovered the fright he received from
the eclipse.

A.D. 842, March 30. Eclipse of the moon, seen in
France this morning. (Ricciolus.)

A.D. 878, October 29. Total solar eclipse at London,
in the time of King Alfred. After a lunar eclipse
seen in France on Oct. 15, we come to one of the sun
on the 29th, which is pointed to in the translations of
the "Saxon Chronicle" by the following meagre notice,
under the date of 879 : " The sun was eclipsed one
hour of the day." No month is given. On examining
the new moons, I found no visible solar eclipses that
year, but in 878 a great one. The tables I used gave
totality at London about Ih. 14m., and Mr. Hind,
by a more recent calculation, found that total dark-
ness came on at Ih. 16m. 20s., and lasted nearlv two
minutes. A note in Thorpe's translation of the Chron-
icle, says "the eclipse happened on March 14, 880;"
but as that one turns out to be near sunset, and
nowhere total, it will not be the one here signified.
I have examined the years from 878 to 1715, but
without finding one other eclipse of the sun total
at London in this long interval. Tycho Brahe's
Historia Celestis gives the following account of this
echpse of 878 : " Ait autem auctor vitse Ludovici solera
post horam nonam ita obscuratum esse, ut stellse in
ccelo apparerent, et omnes sibi noctem imminere pu-
tarent."

A.D. 881, Aug. 28. An eclipse of the sun seen in
France, according to Calvisius.

A.D. 885, June 16. A great total eclipse of the
sun, mentioned in the Chronicon Scotorum, but not

42 Eclipses of the Ninth and Tenth Centuries.

alluded to in the " Saxon Chronicle." It was seen in
Ireland, but its full grandeur would be developed
across Scotland, where, from the moon being near
perigee, and the sun near apogee, its duration was
nearly five minutes.

Tenth Centxtet.

A.D. 901, Jan. 23. Eclipse of sun, observed by Alba-
tegnius at Antioch, "obscurata est semissis et paulo
plus de sole ; " also one of the moon, Aug. 3.

A.D. 904. "This year the moon was eclipsed."
" Saxon Chronicle." I find two total eclipses of the
moon. One on May 31 ; beginning, by the tables
I used, 9h. 22m. ; totality commencing, lOh. 23m. ;
end of totality, 12h. 4m. ; end of the eclipse, Ih. 5m.
next morning. The other eclipse was on Nov. 25;
beginning, 7h. 22m.; total darkness began, 8h. 31m.;
terminated, 9h. 42m. ; end of eclipse, lOh. 51m.
Tycho Brahe speaks of one of them in the following
quaint way in his Historia Celestis : " A great eclipse
of the moon happened this year, says Cedrenus, and
if anyone, terrified at it, should ask what it meant,
the answer is, that by this eclipse death is foretold to
a kinsman of the emperor."

A.D. 912, Jan. 7. Lunar eclipse seen in England, in
the time of King Edward.

A.D. 926, March 31. A total eclipse of the moon,
seen at Paris ; the moon getting clear of the shadow
just as it was beginning to dawn. (Frodoard.)

A.D. 934, April 16. A solar eclipse, supposed to be
a sign of the death of the emperor. (Calvisius.) But
this did not take place for two years.

Eclipses of the Tenth Century. 43

A.D. 939, July 19. A large eclipse of the sun was
observed in Spain a little before the victory of Ea-
meses II. over the Saracens.

A.D. 961, May 17. "A sign placed in the sun/*
says Hermannus Contractus, " by which words he in-
dicates an eclipse of the sun in this year, in the which
Otto proceeded into Italy." (Tycho Brahe, and Cal-
visius.)

A.D. 968, Dec. 22. I make this eclipse to have been
almost total at London about 8h. 33m. a.m., or soon
after sunrise. It was observed on the continent, ac-
cording to Cedrenus.

A.D. 977, Dec. 13. Eclipse of sun, observed at Cairo ;
beginning, 8h. 25ra. ; end, lOh. 45m. ; dig., 8 ; sun's
altitude at beginning, 15*^ 43' ; at end, 33^^

A.D. 978, June 8. The sun was observed eclipsed
at the same place; beginning, 2h. 31m.; end, 4h. 50m.
These eclipses have been used in determining the
moon's secular acceleration. Dr. Yince remarks that
" the astronomical tables have been found to represent
the moon's place in these two eclipses of 977 and 978
before its true position, and in more ancient eclipses
behind its true place. It follows, then, that its mean
motion in ancient times was slower, and in latter times
quicker, than the tables give; therefore, it must have
been accelerated. There must also have been a time
when the tables would give the true place; and, al-
tliough the ancient observations of the times of the
eclipses were not very accurate, yet they were suf-
ficiently so, to prove, beyond all doubt, that the moon's
motion is greater at this time than it was when the
ancient eclipses were observed."

44 Eclipses of the Eleventh Century,

Eleventh Centijey.

A.D. 1009, Oct. 6. The moon was *' changed into
blood," this year, according to Belgian Chronicles.

I find there was a total eclipse this night.

A.D. 1010, March 18. Eclipse of the sun, mentioned
by Sigebert.

A.D. 1020, Sept. 5. Eclipse of moon^ seen at Cologne
this night.

A.D. 1023, Jan. 24. This must have been a very
large solar eclipse at London. The greatest phase fell
about noonday. Struyk says the magnitude there was

II digits, but I find an obscuration somewhat larger
than this. Still, London appears to lie south of the
line of totality.

A.D. 1033, June 29. An eclipse of the sun, spoken of
by all the writers of this time. Projecting for London,
I find the magnitude about eight-tenths on the sun's
lower limb at lOh. 50m. in the morning, leaving there-
fore a crescent of a fifth part of his disc still bright.
Glaber, an eye-witness, writes, that " on the 3rd of the
calends of July there was an eclipse from the sixth to
the eighth hour of the day, exceedingly terrible. Eor
the very sun became of a sapphire colour ; in its upper
part having the likeness of a fourth part of the moon."

A.D. 1037, April 18. A solar eclipse, very large in
France, where it is recorded that the sun looked like
the crescent of a new moon two nights old.

A.D. 1031, Aug. 31. An eclipse of the sun, large in
France, said to have been observed after the death of
Conrad II. Tycho gives 1039 as the date, but as
Conrad died in 1030, is not the above the right eclipse ?

Eclipses of the Eleventh Century. 45

A.D. 1044, Nov. 8. A large partial eclipse of the
moon was observed the morning of this day. In the
following words, Glaber, a writer of this century, de-
scribes the phsenomenon : " In what manner it hap-
pened, whether a prodigy brought to pass by the Deity,
or by the intervention of some heavenly body, remains
known to the author of knowledge. For the moou
herself became like dark blood, only getting clear of it
a little before the dawn." A fragment of an old French
Chronjcle says it happened between the Hyades and
the Pleiades.

A.D. 1056, April 2. A total lunar eclipse, about mid-
night, in which we are informed "the whole of the
moon became darkened like a glowing coal, after the
first cock-crowing, and then recovered its light/^ Nu-
remberg is one of the places where it is recorded to
have been seen.

A.D. 1078, Jan. 30. The only eclipse this century, of
which we are favoured with an account in the " Saxon
Chronicle." It goes thus : " In this year, the moon
was eclipsed three nights before Candlemas, and jEgel-
wig, the * world-wise ' abbot of Evesham, died on
S. Juliana's mass-day (Feb. 16), and in this year was
the dry summer, and wildfire came in many shires,
and burnt many towns." I find a total eclipse of the
moon on the evening of Jan. 30. At London, the moon
would first touch the umbra of the earth about 6h. 11m.,
totality commencing 7h. 16m., and continuing till 8h.
58m., and the eclipse would be over lOh. 3m.

A.D. 1093, Sept. 3. Eclipse of sun, observed at Augs-
burg.

A.D. 1096. Two total eclipses of the moon observed

46 Eclipses of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries,

this year in Europe ; one on the morning of Feb. 11,
the other early in the evening of Aug. 6. In both
cases the moon dipped very deeply into the earth's sha-
dow. Tycho Brahe says these two eclipses are recorded
by many writers.

A.D. 1098, Christmas-day. An eclipse of the sun,
seen at Augsburg.

A.D. 1099, Nov. 30. The year in which Pope Urban II.
died, we are told by Calvisius and Tycho Brahe there
was an eclipse of the moon, and that it took place on
June 5, when the moon was rising. Now, I find
scarcely anything of that eclipse would be seen in
Europe, the moon being below the horizon. There
was, however, a total one on Nov. 30, the moon rising
eclipsed, but a great part of the phsenomenon would be
visible here. The latter seems, therefore, to be the
eclipse alluded to.

Twelfth Centtirt.

A.D. 1110, May 5. A curious total eclipse of the
moon observed in England. Described further on.

A.D. 1113, March 19. Eclipse of the sun, in the
morning, seen at Jerusalem by William of Tyre.

A.D. 1114, Aug. 18 (morn). A total eclipse of the
moon seen in England. The *' Saxon Chronicle," which
does not mention it, speaks of other phsenomena during
the year. " In the latter end of May was seen an un-
common star with a long train, shining many nights.
In this year was so great an ebb of the tide everywhere
in one day, as no man remembered before; and men
went riding and walking over the Thames eastward of
London Bridge.''

Eclipses of the Twelfth Century. 47

A.D. 1117, June 16, Dec. 10. The first was a total
eclipse of the moon, seen in France ; the latter is thus
spoken of in the " Saxon Chronicle." " In the night
of the 3rd day before the ides of December was the
moon during a long time of the night as if covered
with blood." I find the eclipse began about lOh. 35m.,
became total llh. 36m., continued so till Ih. 17m., and
ended 2h. 17m. (morning).

A.D. 1121, April 4. "The moon was eclipsed on the
night of the nones of April, being a fortnight old."
Calculating for London, 1 find the eclipse began
7h.23m., and lasted till about llh. 19m.

A.D. 1124, Aug. 11. An eclipse of the sun observed
in England between llh. and 12h. in the day.

A.D. 1133, Aug. 2. One of the most noted eclipses
in mediaeval times. The " Saxon Chronicle " describes
it in this fashion, the translations giving the date of
1135 : " In this year went the King Henry over sea at
Lammas, and the next day, as he lay asleep on ship,
the day darkened over all lands ; and the sun was all,
as it were, a three-night old moon, and the stars
about him at midday. Men said a great event would
come, and the same year was the king dead, the day
after S. Andrew's mass-day in Normandy." There is
a mistake about the date the translations have given.
Henry I. died in 1135 ; but at the new moou, in
August of that year, I find there was no eclipse.
On August 2, the day after Lammas, 1133, an eclipse
took place which thoroughly answers the conditions.
At London that morning nearly nine-tenths of the
sun's disc were obscured. In Scotland the eclipse was
total. William of Malmesbury, speaking of the death

4S Eclipses of the Twelfth Century.

of King Henry I., writes : " The elements manifested
their sorrow at this great man's last departure ; for the
sun, on that day, at the 6th hour, shrouded his glori-
ous face, as the poet's say, in hideous darkness, agi-
tating the hearts of men by an eclipse ; and, on the
sixth day in the week, early in the morning, there was
so great an earthquake that the ground appeared abso-
lutely to sink down, an horrid noise being first heard
beneath the surface." According to Calvisius it was
seen in Flanders, and the stars appeared.

A.D. 1135, Bee. 22. At the death of Henry I, it is
recorded by Matthew Paris, " lunam nunquam com-
paruisse," by which words a total eclipse of the moon
is clearly indicated. It happened after the death of
Henry, on the day on which Stephen was crowned.
I find only the first part of this eclipse would be visible
in our land, the moon setting before the middle.

A.D. 1140, March 20. A total eclipse of the sun
in England. The "Saxon Chronicle'' relates: *'In
the Lent, the sun and the day darkened, about the
noon-tide of the day, when men were eating, and
they lighted candles to eat by. That was the 13th
day before the calends of April. Men were very much
struck with wonder." William of Malmesbury re-
cords : " During this year, in Lent, on the 13th of the
calends of April, there was an eclipse throughout Eng-
land, as I have heard. With us and with all our neigh-
bours, at the ninth hour of the fourth day of the week,
the obscuration was so remarkable, that people said
chaos was come again, smce it was Lent. Afterwards,
learning the cause, they went out, and beheld the stars
around the sun. It was thought, and said by many.

Eclipses of the Tioelfth Century. 49

not untruly, that the king (Stephen) would not con-
tinue a year in the government." According to the
tables I used, the greatest obscuration of this eclipse
took place at London at 2h. 36m., when a narrow cres-
cent was uncovered at the south of the sun, shewing
the line of totality must have gone north of Lon-
don, a result not agreeing with Dr. Halley's. Halley
said it was the total eclipse in London preceding that
of 1715. This statement is now known to be an error.
Tycho Brahe in his Historia Celestis, says the mag-
nitude at London was 11^ 38', and he, with inferior
tables to Halley, proves correct. Mr. Hind has shewn
that the central line of totality crossed over Aberyst-
with, Stafford, and Lincoln, and that Northampton
and Norwich were on the southern boundary.

A.D. 1147, Oct. 26. Solar eclipse, seen in France.
It is said to have occurred after the departure of Conrad
into Palestine.

A.D. 1150, Mar. 15. Eclipse of moon, total. (Cal-
visius.)

A.D. 1153, Jan. 26. A solar eclipse is obscurely
recorded by historians on this day, when they state
"something singular happened to the sun, the day after
the Conversion of St. Paul." I find an eclipse of the sun,
which at Augsburg appears to have been pretty large.

A.D. 1161, Aug. 7. Total eclipse of moon, seen at
its rising. (Calvisius.).

A.D. 1172, Jan. 12. An eclipse of the moon this
winter is said by historians to have lasted about four
hours. It was total, and occurred on the above night.
Cologne was one of the places where it was seen.

A.D. 1178, Mar. 5. An eclipse of the moon is re-

E

50 Eclipses of the Twelfth Century,

corded by the Monk of Cologne, who states that " half
of it was darkened for the space of one hour, and the
other half remained bright."

A.D. 1178, Sept. 13. A large partial solar eclipse
observed at Cologne. Calculating for that place, I find
about eight-tenths of the sun's disc obscured a little
before noon.

A.D. 1179, Aug. 19. A total eclipse of the moon seen
at Cologne early in the morning. The account states
that it lasted from the middle of the night till sunrise.

A.D. 1180, Jan. 28. Large eclipse of the sun seen
in France. (Calvisius.)

A.D. 1181, July 13. Partial eclipse of the sun (not
large,) observed, in Prance, near the time of the death
of Louis VII.

A.D. 1185, May 1. A solar eclipse of some note. It
was observed, amongst other places, at Rheims, in
Prance. In Scotland, Tycho Brahe says it was total,
and he seems correct. At London, I find between
eight and nine-tenths of the sun's upper limb covered
soon after two o'clock.

A.D. 1186, April 5. An eclipse of the moon on the
eve of Palm Sunday is mentioned by a monk of Co-
logne. The monk thought it was partial, because the
moon rose when the shadow was going off her face.
I find, however, it was total, and the moon would rise
during the phaenomenon at Cologne.

A.D. 1186, April 31. The Arabians speak of an
eclipse of the sun on this day, in the year of the He-
gira 582; but it was not large, and probably recorded
as being in the same year as the celebrated conjunc-
tion of all the planets.

Eclipses of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries^ 51

A.D. 1187, Sept. 4. This solar eclipse occurred in
the time of the Crusades, in the year in which Saladin
defeated the crusaders at Tiberias, re-took Jerusalem,
and made prisoner its sovereign, Guy of Lusignan.
The eclipse was large at Jerusalem, and the stars are
said to have been seen.

A.D. 1189, Feb. 2. Partial eclipse of moon seen in
England, and on the continent.

A.D. 1191, June 23. A great solar eclipse is men-
tioned by English writers as having been seen on the
vigil of St. John the Baptist, in this year. It hap-
pened in the middle of the day. The moon's semi-
diameter was very small, so that it could only be
annular.

A.D. 1192, Nov. 21. Partial lunar eclipse (morning).
A French observation.

A.D. 1193, Nov. 10. Total lunar eclipse, during
which the moon rose. Another French observation.

Thirteenth Century.

A.D. 1204, April 15. A total eclipse of the moon,
about midnight. It is recorded to have happened after
Alexius III., the Emperor of the East, was dethroned.
It was also observed in England.

A.D. 1207, Feb. 28. Eclipse of sun, spoken of by
several historians.

A.D. 1208, Feb. 2. Eclipse of moon, seen early this
evening. The total phase would be of long continu-
ance.

A.D. 1215, Mar. 17. A total eclipse of the moon,
seen at Cologne, *' from cock-crowing to sunrise.'^

A.D. 1230, May 14. Great solar eclipse about sun-

52 Eclipses of the Thirteenth Century.

rise. It is said the night appeared to be prolonged
by it. (Calvisius.)

A.D. 1232, Oct. 15. Small eclipse of sun, mentioned
by a monk of Cologne.

A.D. 1239, June 13. Eclipse of sun, llh. a.m. (Cal-
visius.)

A.D. 1241, Oct. 6. Solar eclipse, spoken of in the
Historia Celestis of Tycho Brahe. He states that
" a few stars appeared about noonday, and the sun
was hidden from sight in a clear sky." I find it would
be seen in this country, as a large partial eclipse, be-
tween the hours of eleven and twelve. Humboldt, in
Cosmos, vol. iii. pt. 2, has the following in a note :
"1241. Five months after the Mongol battle of Leig-
nitz, obscuratus est sol (in quibusdam locis ?) et factae
sunt tenebrse, ita ut stellse viderentur in coelo, circa
festum S. Michaelis hora nona. — Chronicle of the Neu-
hurg Convent near Vienna.^'

A.D. 1248, June 7. An eclipse of the moon is re-
corded to have been seen in England, soon after sun-
set, this day. I find it was total, and the moon would
rise eclipsed.

A.D. 1255, July 20. Another total eclipse of the
moon, seen in England, after sunset.

A.D. 1263, Aug. 5. An eclipse of the sun observed
at Augsburg, where it would be of considerable magni-
tude. (Calvisius.)

A.D. 1267, May 25. A large solar eclipse, mentioned
by Nicephorus Gregoras. It was seen at Constanti-
nople. I find the semi-diameters of the sun and moon
almost exactly alike.

A.D. 1272, Aug. 10. Partial eclipse of the moon,

Eclipses of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, 53

seen this evening at Vienna. I find the moon would
rise after the commencement.

A.D. 1274, Jan. 23. A lunar eclipse took place this
night, which is recorded to have been seen at Vienna.
Tycho Brahe says that Gerard Mercator (the author of
the projection of the world inserted in some Atlases,)
found an account of it in an old book.

A.D. 1279, April 12. Eclipse of the sun, seen at
Frankfort, a little before sunset. This one is also
mentioned by Mercator.

A.D. 1290, Sept. 5. Large solar eclipse across cen-
tral Europe. (Spangenbergius.)

POUETEENTH CeNTTJEY.

A.D. 1307, April 3. Small echpse of sun, seen in
northern Italy.

A.D. 1310, Jan. 31. A solar eclipse mentioned by
Spangenbergius. It is said to have been seen at
Wittemberg.

A.D. 1312, July 5. Eclipse of sun, (not large,) about
midday. (Calvisius.)

A.D. 1321, June 26. An eclipse of sun early in the
morniug, mentioned in Bohemian history. The semi-
diameters of the sun and moon turn out pretty nearly
alike, and both very small.

A.D. 1327, Sept. I. Total eclipse of moon, just be-
fore sunrise, seen at Constantinople.

A.D. 1328, Feb. 25. An eclipse of the moon, re-
corded to have been seen at Constantinople in the
beginning of spring this year.

A.D. 1330, July 16. Eclipse of the sun, recorded in
Bohemian Chronicles. It was observed also at Con-

54 Eclipses of the Fourteenth Century.

stantinople ; and, I find, it would be a large eclipse
across Great Britain, but the semi-diameters would be
very similar.

A.D. 1331, Nov. 30, Dec. 15. The first was an eclipse
of the sun, about sunrise ; the latter, one of the moon ;
both observed at Prague.

A.D. 1338, Feb. 5. An eclipse of the moon, recorded
by Nicephorus Gregoras. We are informed that when
the moon " rose, it was almost all darkened, and there-
fore all the more notable and striking." The place of
observation is not given, but, no doubt, it would be
Constantinople. I find an eclipse this afternoon, in
the latter part of which the moon would be above
the horizon there.

A.D. 1339, July 7. Eclipse of the sun, about mid-
day. (Calvisius.)

Supposed eclipse at the battle of Cressy. History
tells us of an eclipse of the sun at the battle of Cressy,
August 26, A.D. 1346. Lingard, in his History of
England, Edw. III., uses these words: "Never, per-
haps, were preparations for battle made under circum-
stances so truly awful. On that very day the sun
suffered a partial eclipse: birds, in clouds,, the pre-
cursors of a storm, flew screaming over the two armies,
and the rain fell in torrents, accompanied by incessant
thunder and lightning. About five in the afternoon
the weather cleared up, the sun in full splendour
darted his rays in the eyes of the enemy." I find
there was no eclipse at all. There were two eclipses
of the sun this year, Feb. 21 and Aug. 17, but neither
was visible in Europe. From the account in Lingard's
history, the atmosphere appears to have been in a dis-

Eclipses of the Fourteenth Century. 55

turbed condition; so the supposed solar eclipse was
evidently nothing more than a dark cloud, or some
meteorological phsenomenon.

A.D. 1349, June 30. This eclipse is referred to by
Calvisius. Churton, in his "History of the Early Eng-
lish Church," has the following : " The worthy Abp.
Bradwardine, who flourished in the reign of the Nor-
man Edwards, and died a.d. 1349, tells a story of
a witch, who was attempting to impose on the simple
people of the time. It was a fine summer's night, and
the moon was suddenly eclipsed. ' Make me good
amends,^ said she, *for old wrongs, or I will bid the
sun also to withdraw his light from you.' Bradwar-
dine, who had studied the Arabian astronomers, was
more than a match for this simple trick, without call-
ing in the aid of the Saxon law. * Tell me,' he said,
* at what time you will do this, and we will believe
you ; or, if you will not tell me, I will tell you, when
the sun or the moon will next be darkened, in what
part of their orb the darkness will begin, how far it
will spread, and how long it will continue.' It is need-
less to add that the witch was quite dumb-founded.
This was 200 years before the Reformation. How
miserable to think that 100 years after it, in the six-
teen years of Cromwell and the Long Parliament, more
than 300 unhappy persons were tried for witchcraft,
and the greater part were executed. There had been
only fifteen executions for a century before, and pro-
bably not so many sufi'ered by Saxon ordeals." Brad-
wardine was only archbishop for one year, a.d. 1349,
and we are told the eclipse was on a fine summer's
night. It was, therefore, that of June 30, 1349. Cal-

56 Eclipses of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries.

culating for London, I find the moon first touched the
earth's shadow about 9h. 26m., became totally im-
mersed lOh. 24m., totality ending 12h. 4m., and the
eclipse 13h. 2iii.

A.D. 1354, Sept. 17. An eclipse of the sun was ob-
served this morning. Said to be about the time Charles
lY. proceeded into Italy. (Calvisius.)

A.D. 1361, May 5. Large solar eclipse, seen at Con-
stantinople.

A.D. 1386. An eclipse of the sun Jan. 1, was total
in the south of France.

Fifteenth Century.

A.D. 1406, June 1. Total eclipse of moon, seen at
Constantinople.

A.D. 1406, June 16. A great solar eclipse, early in
the morning. I find the greatest phase at London
about 6 o'clock, when the sun was eclipsed to the
extent of nine-tenths on the lower limb. Hence,
totality passed a trifle south of England. Accounts
state the darkness was such that "one person could
hardly recognise another."

A.D. 1415, June 7. Solar eclipse, which is related to
have happened after the feast of Corpus Christi. Total
in the south of France. In Bohemia, we are told
that *' birds terrified with the sudden darkness fell
down dead."

A.D. 1424, June 26. Amother total eclipse of the
sun in Europe this afternoon. At Wittemberg it
appears to have been observed nearly total.

A.D. 1433, June 17. A noted solar eclipse. It was
total across Scotland, including Edinburgh, also in

Eclipses of the Fifteenth Century, 57

Kortliumberland. The total phase was exhibited about
three ia the afternoon, and for generations afterwards
it went by the name of the " black hour/' The moon's
semi-diameter was very large, the sun's very small.
Calvisius tells us that in Turkey, " near evening, the
light of the sun was so overpowered that darkness
covered the land."

A.D. 1438, Sept. 19. The eclipse of the sun that was
seen at the death of Edward, king of Portugal.

A.D. 1448, August 29. Eclipse of sun, seen at
Tubingen.

A.D. 1457, Sept. 3. Total eclipse of the moon, ob-
served near Vienna by George Purbach and his pupil,
John Muller, who generally went by the name of Re-
giomontanus. A volume by Eegiomontanus is in the
library of the Royal Astronomical Society at London.
It contains positions of the planets for each day from
1474 to 1506, a calendar for every month, the festivals
of the Church, coloured figures of the eclipses, with
the number of digits obscured. Scarcely any copies of
this rare, early printed work, that are perfect, remain.

A.D. 1460, July 3. Partial eclipse of moon ; Dec. 28,
total eclipse of moon. Both observations of Regio-
montanus.

A.D. 1460, July 18. The sun would rise eclipsed, the
morning of this day, to Great Britain. In Austria and
the Turkish dominions it was a great eclipse. The ac-
counts tell us that " when day began, the sun lost his
light to such an extent that everything was wrapt
in darkness."

A.D. 1461, June 22, Dec. 17. Two total eclipses of
the moon, both observed by Regiomontanus. Only

58 Eclipses of the Fifteenth Century.

the latter portion of that on Dec. 17 would be visible
in Europe.

A.D. 1464, April 22. Total eclipse of moon, seen at
Padua in the morning.

A.D. 1471, June 2. Partial eclipse of the moon. It
is mentioned by Tycho in his Historia Celestis, and he
adds, "the end was not observed owing to the inter-
vention of clouds."

A.D. 1485, March 16. A very large solar eclipse the
afternoon of this day. We are informed that there
was intense gloom, and nothing was done without arti-
ficial liglit. Fowls and other animals betook them-
selves to their nightly resting-places. Crusius says
candles had to be lighted between the hours of four
and five. Nuremberg is mentioned as one of the places
where the eclipse was seen. The total phase would
pass south of this country.

A.D. 1493, April 2. This is the lunar eclipse taken
by Kicciolus to be the one that was of such use to
Christopher Columbus. There seems, however, a little
doubt which of Columbus' voyages is referred to. The
eclipse on the evening of March 1, 1504, has also been
given as the correct date. When the celebrated voyager
was in great distress for want of provisions, which the
natives refused to supply, he told them the moon would
be darkened on a certain day to shew the ar.ger of
heaven at their conduct to him. This was at first
treated with unconcern. But when the eclipse was
seen gradually creeping over the moon, the barbarians
were so terrified that they strove who should be the
first in bringing him all sorts of provisions, and threw
them down at his feet, imploring his forgiveness.

Eclipses of the Sixteenth Century. 59

Sixteenth Centtjey.

As the design of this little work was mainly to give
the eclipses in ancient and mediaeval times, we shall
now only notice a few of the most remarkable.

A.D. 1530, March 29. Kepler tells us this solar
eclipse was seen by his uncle, and that " when the day
had only become light, it was extinguished, and turned
into night." In England I find the sun would not
be up.

A.D. 1540, April 7. The sun would not be risen in
England, but this would be an important eclipse, and
slightly total in countries lying more easterly. Cypri-
anus Leovitius, in the preface to his work on eclipses,
to which we have already alluded, thus speaks of it :
"Anno nativitatis 1540, quum Wratislanise essem, fuit
eclipsis solis pene Integra in Ariete, quae in ipso ortu
prorsus horribilis apparuit, quum statim sestus gravis-
simus, cum siccitate magna, et annonae caritatis sub-
sequebant."

A.D. 1544, Jan. 24. An eclipse of the sun, in which
the semi-diameters of the two luminaries would be
similar. Tycho Brahe tells us it was " observata Lo-
vanii a Gemma Frisio per foramen fenestrse dig. 10."
Kepler says that the day began to become dark, as if
in evening twilight, and the birds, which from break of
day had been singing, became mute. Leovitius al-
ludes to it in these words : " Similiter anno 1544, die
24 Januarii, cum gravium virorum consuetudine Lipsise
uterer, fuit eclipsis solis integra in Aquario, ita ut ipso
die tenebrse quasi suborirentur ; erat autera alioquiu
tempestas' nebulosa, quae tenebras illas augebat." In

60 Eclipses of the Sixteenth Century,

the days of Leovitius, of course, no astrouomical work
could be found without a strong smattering of astro-
logy i ^^^ he informs us that this eclipse was the pre-
cursor of wars in Germany, famine, pestilence, &c. ;
that in 1551 of "dangerous changes in religion, the
death of Pope Paul, and other events, as many know."

A.D. 1560, Aug. 21. A noted eclipse of the sun,
total in Spain and Portugal, observed at Coimbra by
Clavius, who says, *'The sun remained obscured for no
little time, there was darkness greater than that of
night, no one could see where he trod, and the stars
shone very brightly in the sky : the birds, moreover,
wonderful to say, fell down to the ground in fright at
such startling darkness." P. Emmanuel Vega gives
a still more highflown description. He says it "lasted
for three hours, amid the screams of women, who cried
out that the last day of the world had arrived, never
were the stars so bright, and men could scarcely see
each other in their houses, and there was need of
lights." Tycho Brahe, not admitting any total eclipses
of the sun, did not believe this account, and wrote to
Clavius to that eflPect in the year 1600, as Kepler in-
forms us. I make the middle of this eclipse to have
occurred at Coimbra a few minutes after eleven. Leo-
vitius has drawn it for Augsburg as an eclipse of
7^ digits on the lower limb, too small a magnitude for
that place ; but he makes the moon's semi-diameter
17' 22", a much larger magnitude than it can ever
attain, just an opposite result to what Tycho would
have given.

A.D. 1567, April 9. Annular eclipse of the sun, ob-
served by Christopher Clavius at Rome. He says, that

Eclipses of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. 61

"the whole sun was not eclipsed, but there was left
a certain bright circle all round." Tycho relates that
he saw it, when he was a young man, on the shores of
the Baltic. Cornelius Gemma, at Louvain, observed
that it "began at lOh. 12m., was at its height (vigo-
rem) llh. 40m., and ended a little after 12|^h., digits
nearly 9. The light was very pale, and it looked like
evening, but no stars came out." Kepler thought the
bright circle was a dense portion of the aether inflamed
by contact with the sun, or else the margin of the sun
enlarged in some optical manner by the refraction of
his rays around the moon. Calculating for Home,
I make the eclipse annular there at 12h. 20m. (noon),
but the augmentation of the moon's semi-diameter
would almost produce totality.

A.D. 1598, Feb. 25, " The Black Saturday." For
generations afterwards the day went by this name.
The sun was totally eclipsed in the morning in Scot-
land, Edinburgh being within the zone of complete
obscurity.

Seventeenth Century.

A.D. 1610, July 6. An eclipse of the moon the morn-
ing of this day deserves notice, simply because it must
be the first that was ever viewed through a telescope.
The observer is not stated, but there is the following
remark about it in the Supplement to the Historia
Celestis : " The beginning of the eclipse of the moon,
as observed through the Roman telescope, appeared
like a dark thread in contact with the shadow." The
eclipse of the sun. May 30, 1612, is also recorded to
have been seen "through a tube," and it is added.

62 Eclipses of the Seventeenth Century,

" the spots on the sun then appeared darker than the
moon/'

A.D. 1620. Two peculiar total eclipses of the moon.
Described further on.

A.D. 1630, June 10. A large solar eclipse. Gasseudi,
at Paris, observed the beginning at 6h. 16m., mid-
dle, 7h. 12m. p.m., dig. eel. 11« 32'. Dr. Bainbridge,
at Oxford, found the commencement 5h. 58m., termi-
nation 7h. 48m.

A.D. 1652, April 8. The last eclipse of the sun that
was total in Scotland. Our Scotch neighbours will not
get another, in any county, till the twenty-second
century. The eclipse of 1652 went by the name of
** Black Monday," for a long while afterwards. At
London the middle was found to be at lOh. 29m.,
digits 11^. Hevelius, at Dantzic, observed the middle
12h. 10m. 35s., digits eclipsed 9-J, and the proportion
of the semi-diameter of the sun to that of the moon
as 1,000 to 1,033.

A.D. 1668, Nov. 4. An eclipse of about two-thirds
of the sun's disc in this country. Flamsteed gives us
several figures of its different stages in his Historia
Celestis. He states that he found the tables in the
Astronomia Carolina very much out. The defective
state of the lunar tables led, a few years later, to the
foundation of the Greenwich Observatory.

The Caroline Tables were by Thomas Street, an
Englishman, and were in use for a long time. They
first appeared in 1661. Another edition was published
by Dr. Halley in 1710. Street constructed the Logistic
logarithms. A copy of the 1661 edition is in my
possession.

Eclipses of the Eighteenth Century. 63

Eighteenth Centuey.

A.D. 1703, Dec. 23. A singularly bright total eclipse
of the moon. Described further on.

A.D. 1706, May 12. A total eclipse of the sun, of
which only a partial phase was visible to England.
Captain Stannyau, at Bern, in Switzerland, after no-
ticing a star and a planet shining brightly, says the
sun's " getting out of the eclipse was preceded by
a blood-red streak of light from its left limb, which
continued not longer than 6 or 7 seconds. Then part
of the sun's disc appeared all of a sudden, as bright as
Yenus was ever seen in the night, nay, brighter, and
in that very instant gave a light and shadow to things
as strong as moonlight.'^ Here is one of the earliest,
and probably the first account we have of the red
flames.

A.D. 1715, May 3. Eclipse of the sun, total right
across England, from Cornwall and Devon to the
Wash. London was included in the totality, which
took place soon after nine o'clock on a fine spring
morning. This, with the sun high in the sky, rendered
it a sight that Londoners may never expect to witness
again. Elamsteed gives the following account of it in
his Historia Celestis : —

" 20h. 5m. 54s. Beginning, apparent time-

21 9 Totahs obscuritas.
„ 12 12 Lux prima.

22 19 51 Finis.

" Valde sereno per totam eclipsis durationem aere.'^
Dr. Halley says, that " when the last part of the sun
remained on its east side, it grew very faint, and was

64 Eclipses of the Eighteenth Century.

easily supportable to the naked eye above a minute
before total darkness ;" that " a few seconds before the
sun was totally hid, there discovered itself round the
moon a luminous ring," (he means the corona;) "this
was of a pale whiteness, or rather, pearl colour, a lit-
tle tinged with the colours of the iris, and concen-
tric with the moon." During the eclipse, flashes of
light seemed to dart out from behind the moon.
Two or three seconds before the emersion, where
the sun was just coming out, a long and very nar-
row streak, of a dusky but strong red light, seemed
to colour the dark edge of the moon." Halley states
that Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus were seen during
the totality by people in London, also Capella and
Aldebaran; that north of London, in the centre of
the line of totality, twenty stars were seen. Surely
there must be some interesting accounts of this eclipse
remaining, if old families could only be induced to
search their papers.

A.D. 1724, May 22. The last eclipse of the sun, total
in England. A map of the path of totality, by Dr.
Halley, in the rooms of the Royal Astronomical So-
ciety, places London just outside the total phase. When
a great solar eclipse happens at any particular place, it
is frequently followed by three at the space of half
a Chaldsean period (nine years) between them. For
example, the large eclipse of 1406 was followed by
others in 1415, 1424, 1433. At the beginning of the
eighteenth century great eclipses fell in this country in
1706, 1715, 1724, 1733. In our own times we have
had a nine-year period, comprising four eclipses of
some magnitude, those of 1833, 1842, 1851, 1860.

Eclipses of the Eighteenth Century, 65

Returning to the eclipse of 1724, it was observed
by Dr. Stukeley, who selected as his place of obser-
vation an eminence called Haraden Hill, having Salis-
bury Plain on the front. The Doctor said he seemed
to "feel the darkness drop down like a great mantle,"
that during totality " it was beyond all that he had
ever seen^ or could picture to his imagination, the
most solemn." He could only with difficulty dis-
cern the faces of his companions, which had a ghastly,
startling appearance. Sky and earth were covered as
with a funeral pall. In the sun's place at length ap-
peared a small lucid spot, and from it ran a rim of
faint brightness. In about 3J minutes from this ap-
pearance, the hill-tops changed from black to blue,
the horizon gave out the grey streaks previous to morn-
ing dawn, and the birds sprang joyously into the air,
and the great sight of 1724 was gone, not to be dis-
played in this country again till many generations had
passed ad majores.

A.D. 1737, March 1. An eclipse of the sun, annular,
at Edinburgh. This is one of the very few instances
in which something was seen of the red flames on the
edge of the sun, when he was not totally eclipsed.

A.D. 1748, July 14. An eclipse of the sun, nine to
ten digits in magnitude, at London; annular in Scot-
land. Short, one of the observers, noticed the mottled
appearance of the sun's photosphere. An indication
was again perceived of the " red flames" in the shape
of a kind of brown light.

A.D. 1793, Sept. 5. After the annular eclipse of 1764
already alluded to, there was no other large eclipse of
the sun in this country, in the latter part of the last

ir

66 Eclipses of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.

century, except this one. The magnitude was eight-
tenths at London, and annular in the north of Scot-
land. Considerations respecting the shape of one of
the moon's horns in this eclipse led Sir W. Herschel
to form an opinion against a lunar atmosphere.

The eighteenth century was a rich time for central
eclipses in Great Britain, two being total, and one
annular in England, 1715, 1724, 1764; and three
annular ones in Scotland, 1737, 1748, 1793.

Nineteenth Centuet.

A.D. 1820, Sept. 7. A large partial eclipse of the
sun on the afternoon of this day was well observed in
England, the sky being generally quite clear. The
Lords, engaged in summing up the charges against
Queen Caroline at the time, left oflp, to attend to their
astronomical call. The magnitude of the eclipse in the
easteru counties was nine-tenths of the sun's face :
and stars are said to have -been detected. This latter
point is of importance with regard to our records of
ancient eclipses, as indicating what degree of obscura-
tion, even in a northern latitude, is sufficient to bring
out the planets during the obscuration caused by an
eclipse.

A.D. 1836, May 15. An eclipse of the sun on a Sun-
day afternoon, well observed throughout Great Bri-
tain. Annular in the northernmost counties of Eng-
land, and in the south of Scotland. Eamous for what
is known as " B ally's beads," noticed by Mr. Baily, at
Jedburgh, in Roxburghshire. About the formation,
and rupture of the ring, he observed the rough moun-
tains on the moon's edge projected on the sun's bright

Eclipses of the Nineteenth Century, 67

face like a row of bead-like dots. Some indication of
the red flames was perceived where the eclipse was
annular. Henderson, who observed at Edinburgh,
states that previous to the formation of the annulus
an arc of faint reddish light was seen. Bessel, at the
Konigsberg observatory, a little out of the annul arity,
saw a " luminous point near the extremity of the upper
cusp. As the cusps were then approaching each other,
I hoped the annulus was about to form, but this did
not happen." Admiral Smyth, observing it at Bed-
ford, as a partial eclipse of nine-tenths, states that
" as the sun obfuscated, the air grew cooler ;" that vege-
tation assumed a yellow tinge, the light became mel-
lower ; that Venus became visible to the naked eye,
and Mercury through the finder.

A.D. 1842, July 8. Total eclipse of the sun in the
south of Prance. The present interest felt in total
solar eclipses seems to have been kindled by this one.
After a long interval, ever since 1724, in which no
total eclipse of the sun could be viewed within a
reasonable distance from this country, that of 1842
happened, and was total over some of the populous
districts in Europe. Arago informs us that the poorest
villagers of the Alps and Pyrenees repaired in crowds
to culminating points, where the phaenomenon could
be best seen. At Perpignan, only persons who were
confined to their chambers by ill-health remained at
home. "The magnificence of the phaenomenon had
triumphed over the petulance of youth, over the levity
affected by some of the spectators, and the usual in-
difference of soldiers ; a profound calm reigned through-
out the air during the two minutes of totality, birds

68 Eclipses of the Nineteenth Century,

ceased to sing, &c. The main point of interest] con-
sisted in some strange red flames that were seen shoot-
ing forth from the black disk in the sky. To' solve
the nature of these red flames, astronomers looked
forward to the eclipse of 1851.''

A.D. 1851, July 28. Total eclipse of the sun in
Norway and Sweden. Great numbers of observers
proceeded from all parts for the observation of this
important phsenomenon. It was clearly seen that the
red flames which had been noticed in 1842, belonged
to the sun, and not to the moon. As the moon's black
globe passed over the sun, the flames on one side di-
minished in size, while those on the other increased.
The gloom is said to have had a very unearthly appear-
ance, not resembling that of night. The sea appeared
lurid red. The aspect of nature was grand beyond
description.

A.D. 1860, July 18. Eclipse of the sun, total in
Spain, whither a large party proceeded from England
in the " Himalaya." Other nations prepared well-equip-
ped expeditions, including even the Pacha of Egypt.
Although the summer of 1860 was notedly wet, some
good photographs were obtained of the totality, and
the fact of the red flames belonging to the sun, and
not to the moon, was confirmed beyond a doubt.

A.D. 1868, Aug. 18. An eclipse of the sun, of which
the totality was of extreme duration. Unfavourable
weather prevailed at Bombay, but in some places valu-
able observations were obtained of the red prominences
by the spectroscope, proving them to be gaseous.

Dec. 22. Total eclipse of the sun in the
ain and north of Africa. Though bad wea-

Dv tne spect
^ <*Y A.D. 1870,

/ iouth of Sps

Present Prospects of the Amateur, 69

ther in a great measure interfered with observations,
it was ascertained that the red prominences are com-
posed of flames of hydrogen. A line of green light
was found in the spectrum of the corona, the same
that appears in the spectra of the aurora and zodiacal
light.

CHAPTEE V.

THE PRESENT PROSPECTS OP THE AMATEUR.

We may now pause to consider what are the pros-
pects the astronomical observer has at the present day.
For the concluding thirty-six years of the last century
there was no large solar eclipse in our own country
but one: there is a greater scarcity of such phaeno-
mena during the years that have to run out in the pre-
sent century. Let us just suppose the lover of astro-
nomy to have set up an observatory in England thirty
years ago, and to have been spared to continue his ob-
servations to the present day. First of all, he would
have had a great solar eclipse in 1847, annular in the
south of England, and the largest eclipse since 1764.
This was followed in 1851 by an eclipse of at least
eight-tenths of the sun here, and total by taking a trip
across the water to Norway. Again, in 1858, there
came a notable phaenomenon, annular, but almost total.
On the central line, as, for instance, about Swindon, in
Wiltshire, it was considered .that if the sun's face could
be divided into 1,000 parts, 999 of these would be

70 Present Prospects of the Amateur.

eclipsed. Two years more pass, and we come to July,
1860, with another eclipse of at least eight- tenths of
the sun's diameter on the lower limb here, and total in
Spain. In 1867 there came another eclipse, magnitude
at London exactly three-fourths of the sun. In a few
years more we had the eclipse of 1870, amounting to
eight-tenths in England, and total at Gibraltar, quite
easy of access. In other words, six fine eclipses of the sun
have presented themselves to our view within the last
thirty years. To be sure, this must be modified, when
we look at the result, and not at the prediction. The
eclipse of 1847 was obscured by clouds where annu-
lar, and only well seen, we believe, in some places in
the north of England ; those of 1851 and 1860 seen
through passing clouds ; that of 1858 hardly seen any-
where. Let us now suppose an observer to commence
his observations at the present date, and to continue
them thirty years. He will not have a single solar
eclipse of the size of any of the six that happened in
the last thirty years. Should his observatory be in the
south of England, he will have just one eclipse, attain-
ing a magnitude of two-thirds of the sun's disc, that
of 1900. To an observer in the northern counties of
Scotland there will be no eclipse to the extent of nine-
tenths of the sun till 1921 ; to an observer in the
northern counties of England, none till 1927, and that
one happens shortly after five in the morning. It is
necessary, therefore, to undertake a sea voyage to view
the phaenomenou an astronomer must long to observe,
a total eclipse of the sun. The observation of solar
eclipses on a large scale in our own country will have
to be left to another generation. With regard to the

Present Prospects of the Amateur. 71

partial eclipses of the sun we shall have to put up with,
the following are the most note- worthy points: — (1.)
The time of commencement and cessation, and the
measurement of the magnitude with a micrometer.
(2.) The projection of the lunar mountains on the sun's
bright face, giving a rough and jagged appearance
to the rim of the moon, as seen in the telescope.
(3.) The projection of a small portion of the moon's
black] globe against the sky, outside the sun. I have
never observed a solar eclipse in a clear sky without
noticing this. Perhaps the portion of the moon is
rendered visible by being projected against the lumi-
nous corona that surrounds the sun. (4.) Some ob-
servers notice very carefully the passage of the moon
over certain solar spots. This can only be interesting
so far as it shews the different shades of blackness
between the moon's globe and the spots. (5.) It is
said that during a partial solar eclipse a curious phse-
nomenon is sometimes produced. The light of the
sun shining through the leaves of a tree casts a num-
ber of little lengthened-out crescents of the sun on
the ground, figures of the eclipse. In large eclipses,
a peculiar livid, unearthly gloom begins to come over
the landscape, deepening more rapidly as totality ap-
proaches. Of course this is seen, in a small degree, in
partial eclipses. I found in 1867 and 1870 this gloom
began to be very perceptible when the eighth digit
was reached ; in other words, when two-thirds of the
sun were cut off by the advancing body of the moon.
This would, probably, be more noticeable in summer
than in winter; and, of course, in an oriental, clear
climate the gloom would be much greater than in our

72 Curiosities in Lunar Eclipses.

latitude. If many clouds prevail in the sky, this gloom
is scarcely to be detected, as I found to be the case
in 1860.

CHAPTEK YI.

CURIOSITIES IN LUNAR ECLIPSES, BRIGHT AND BLACK
TOTAL ECLIPSES, HORIZONTAL ECLIPSES, THE RETURN
OF CYCLES.

When the amateur has observed one solar eclipse
he will find somewhat of a sameness in another, except
it be a total or an annular one. This is not the case
with an eclipse of the moon. The latter possesses an
interest of its own, arising from the variation of colour
our satellite exhibits, at different times, when consider-
ably immersed in the earth's shadow. The following
is the programme of an ordinary total eclipse of the
moon. First of all, a smokiness appears on our satel-
lite. This is the penumbra, or shadow of a shadow.
It gradually merges into the true umbra, and a black
segment of a circle creeps on over the lunar mountains
and plains. Let it be remembered, an eclipse of the
moon is a real darkening of the moon's surface; in
other words, a real eclipse. One of the sun, is the mere
shutting off the solar disc from a certain portion of
the earth's surface. While only a small portion of the
moon is obscured, the shadow is of a black, or rather
dark grey colour ; but when the eclipse reaches four di-
gits, or one-third of the moon's diameter, I have always
noticed the beginning of a coppery tint. When a mag-
nitude of half the moon's disc is attained, this coppery
tint begins to be discernible with the naked eye. The

Curiosities in Lunar Eclipses. 73

whole surface then becomes lighter, the grey colour
diminishes, and, when totality is attained, the whole of
the lunar mountains, valleys, plains, &c., appear in-
volved in a dull red gloom. The most striking time
is always when the first streak of light bursts forth at
the edge of the moon. The singular ruddy tint, with
a streak of silvery light at this time, has been not
inaptly likened to a magnificent peach hung in the
sky. The declining phases resemble the increasing
phases, only in an inverse order, the ruddiness giving
place to a greyish colour, and that, in its turn, to
a darker grey or black, when the shadow is nearly
passing off. The ruddy hue, which the moon assumes
during the total phase, puzzled mankind for centuries.
The Greeks thought the darkened moon should be of
different colours, according to the hours at which the
eclipse happened. Kepler gave the explanation of the
red colour on the moon in a total eclipse. He shewed
that it is caused by the refraction of the sun's rays ; to
put it in plainer words, the sun's rays are bent over
the earth and thrown into the earth's shadow. These
rays have a reddish look, because of the thickness of
the atmosphere through which they have to penetrate.
This density will stop all the other rays, and transmit
only the red. Red rays are always the last to dis-
appear, and for this reason the sun appears red through
a fog. But the strata of our atmosphere are variable,
as regards saturation. Sometimes they will hold much
vapour ; at other times they will be transparent. For
this reason, in some very rare cases, the moon will
disappear altogether during a total eclipse, as if blotted
out of the sky j at other times it has been known to

74 Curiosities in Lunar Eclipses.

shine with singular distinctness, when totally immersed
in our shadow. Thus are produced what we may term
black total eclipses and bright total eclipses. If the
region through which the sun^s rays pass is saturated
in some parts and not in others, a portion of the moon
will be very obscure during totality, and another part
may be illuminated. Such is said to have been the
case in the eclipses of August 16, 1598, and Oct. 13,
1837. I witnessed this, to a certain extent, in the
total eclipse of July 12, 1870 ; at 9h. 55m. that night
I found half the moon's surface quite invisible, both
with the naked eye and telescope. Three of the so-
called seas at the eastern limb were alone discernible
at that time.

Thus, in a total eclipse of the moon, we have not
merely the beauties of tint to notice, but we may have
some idea of the state of transparency of the several
strata of our atmosphere. During the next forty years
the following total eclipses of the moon will be visible
in Great Britain, thus affording an opportunity for
such observations :— 1877, Feb. 27 and Aug. 23 ; 1884,
Oct. 4; 1888, Jan. 28; 1895, March 11 ; 1898, Dec.
27; 1902, Oct. 17; 1909, June*3; 1910, IS'ov. 16.
Besides these there will be a few eclipses in which the
moon will be rising or setting, and so part of the total
phase may be seen if the sky is very clear. Two or
three other eclipses that are almost total might be also
included. It will be seen, that we do not get a total
eclipse of the moon at a sufficient altitude for fair ob-
servation above once in five years on the average. Pre-
vious to that of July 12, 1870, the author had seen
none since Oct. 13, 1856, which was a hair's breadth

Curiosities in Lunar Eclipses. 75

short of totality; on other occasions, 1862, 1863, and
1866, clouds entirely interposed.

Black Total Eclipses. — The earliest mention I have
been able to find of this, occurs in the " Saxon Chro-
nicle/' The description given there of an eclipse in
the time of Henry I., May 5, 1110, records that " nei-
ther light, nor orb, nor anything of the moon was
seen." The inference appears to be, that it was a case
of the disappearance of the moon during the total phase.
The " Saxon Chronicle " says, " On the fifth night in
the month of May the moon appeared in the even-
ing, brightly shining, and afterwards, by little and
little, its light waned, so that as soon as it was night
it was so completely quenched, that neither light,
nor orb, nor anything of it was seen ; and so it con-
tinued very near until day, and then appeared full and
brightly shining. It was this same day a fortnight
old. All the night the air was very clear, and the
stars over all the heaven brightly shining, and the
tree fruits on that night were sorely nipt." By the
tables I used the moon entered the earth's shadow
about 9h., and emerged from it, after being totally
eclipsed, about 12h. 30m. Other cases, in which the
moon has become invisible during a total eclipse, are
said to have occurred in 1601, 1620, 1642, 1761, 1816.

On calculating that on the afternoon of Dec. 9, 1601,
I find the obscuration was not total, but nine-tenths
on the lower limb. In the " Paralipomena '^ to Ty-
cho Brahe's Historia Celestis the observation of this
eclipse is recorded, but nothing is said about the dis-
appearance of the moon. Perhaps Dec. 9, 1601, has
been given in mistake for Dec. 9, 1620. It is re-

76 Curiosities in Lunar Eclipses.

corded in the same work that there were two eclipses
in 1620, in both of which the moon shewed with pecu-
liar obscurity during the total phase, one on June 20,
when we are told "the moon was seen with great
difficulty. It shone, moreover, like the thinnest ne-
bula, far fainter than the milky way, without any
coppery-tinge (rubedine). About the middle of the
second hour, nothing at all could be seen of the
moon with the naked eye, and through the telescope
so doubtfully was anything seen, that no one could
tell whether the moon was not something else." It
is added that "the sky was quite clear." Of the
eclipse of Dec. 9, this year, (1620), it is recorded,
'' the moon altogether disappeared, so that nothing
could be seen of it, though the stars shone brightly
all around ; and she continued lost and invisible for
a quarter-of-an-hour, more or less." The observation
appears to have been made at Ingolstadt, where, by
the tables I used, the obscuration began about 4h.
18m. (afternoon), totality lasting from 5h. 18m. to 6h.
54m., and the end at 7h. 54m. This is one of the
best-authenticated instances of the moon becoming
utterly invisible during the total phase. The eclipse
of 1642, April 4, is recorded by Flamsteed in his His-
toria Celestis to have been observed by Crabtree, who
speaks of clouds, but not about the disappearance of
the moon. That of May 18, 1761, was observed at
Stockholm by Wargentin, who tells us the moon be-
came utterly invisible both with the naked eye and
the telescope. The last instance, on June 10, 1816,
(a noted wet summer,) was observed at Loudon, when
the moon could not be detected with telescopes.

Curiosities in Lunar Eclipses. 77

Bright total eclipses. — As a contrast to the preceding,
we may mention the total eclipse of Dec. 23, 1703,
in which the moon, when totally immersed in the
earth's shadow, was visible at Avignon by a ruddy
light of such brilliancy that one might have imagined
her body to be transparent, and to be enlightened
from behind. At London I find this eclipse would
begin about 4h. 31m. (morning), the total phase com-
mencing 5h. 36m. and ending 7h. 22m., and the eclipse
ending below the horizon 8h. 27m. On the evening
of March 19, 1848, so bright a red colour did the moon
wear during total immersion that some persons could
hardly be persuaded it was eclipsed. Mr. Forster, at
Bruges, says, the marks on the moon's face " could
be almost as well made out as in an ordinary dull,
moonlight night." The British consul at Ghent, not
knowing there was any eclipse, wrote to him to know
the reason of the peculiar red colour of the moon the
previous evening.

Horizontal Eclipses. — In some rare cases it happens
that the sun and moon are both seen above the ho-
rizon at the same time when the moon is eclipsed.
It would seem, at first sight, that the sun, moon, and
earth were no longer in a straight line, as they must
be when there is an eclipse. The appearance is owing
to refraction. The sun, already below the horizon, is
raised up by refraction, and is visible to us. Refraction
hastens the apparent rising of one body, and retards
the apparent setting of the other. A remarkable in-
stance of this was observed at Montmartre, by the
members of the Academy of Sciences, on May 26,
1668. Projecting for Paris, the beginning seems to

78 Curiosities in Lunar Eclipses,

have been about 2h. 17m. a.m., and at 3h. 45m.,
shortly before sunrise, eight-tenths of the moon would
be obscured. On June 16, 1666, the moon was seen
in Tuscany to rise eclipsed, the sun being still above
the western horizon. On July 19, 1750, there was
another case of this. In more ancient times there
are a few instances on record. The following hap-
pened in 1590, and is recorded by Tycho in these
words : — "7 July iu the morning, about 3f h., the
moon began to be eclipsed ; in this eclipse it is notable
that both luminaries were at the same time above the
horizon, a like case to what Pliny cites, lib. ii. ch. 3.
For the centre of the sun emerged when the moon
was 2° elevated above the western horizon, and when
her centre was setting, the centre of the sun was ele-
vated nearly 2°." I find an eclipse of the moon the
morning of this day, corresponding to the time here
mentioned. The magnitude would be very small.
The case of which Pliny speaks occurred on Feb. 20,
A.D. 72, in the time of Yespasian. Pliny tells us, "By
some means, when, at sunrise, the umbra ought to
have its place beneath the earth, it has now once hap-
pened that the moon was eclipsed at its setting, both
heavenly bodies being conspicuous above the earth."
I find, by calculation, the eclipse would be total, but
very little indeed would be seen of it in Europe, the
commencement being about the time the moon was
getting down to the horizon.

A clear proof of the rotundity of our globe may be
obtained by merely watching an eclipse of the moon.
The obscurity we see creeping over the moon is the
actual shadow of our earth, and it is a complete seg-

Return of the Cycles of Eclipses. 79

ment of a circle. From the beginning to the end of
an ecHpse it preserves a circular form. This remark
was made by the earliest observers. Two writers, Ma-
nilius and Cleomedes, who lived about the time of the
Christian era, have brought this forward as a proof of
tha roundness of our earth. Thus there is another
method of ascertaining this point besides noticing the
disappearance of a hull of a ship before the masts, or
by a voyage round the world.

The return of Cycles of Eclipses. — The period of eigh-
teen years and eleven days, in which eclipses return
in the same order, is said to have been found out by
the Chaldaeans, and to have been called by them the
Saros. It gives a fair idea of lunar eclipses, though
the magnitude will alter a little at each return. It
also indicates that there will be a solar eclipse visible
from some place on the earth on a particular day.
It may interest the reader to go through the courses
of one or two echpses. The next one we shall have
in Great Britain, Oct. 10, 1874, is thus traced by
Ferguson from its commencement. This eclipse, after
traversing the voids of space since the Creation, at last
began to enter the Terra Australis Incognita about
eighty-eight years after the Conquest, which was the
last of King Stephen's reign ; every Chaldsean period
it has crept more northerly, but was still invisible in
Britain before the year 1622, when on the 30th of
April, it began to touch the south part of England
about 2h. in the afternoon, its central appearance
rising in the American south seas, and traversing Peru
and the Amazons' country, through the Atlantic Ocean
into Africa, and setting in the Ethiopian continent,

80 Return of the Cycles of Eclipses.

not far from the beginning of the Red Sea. Its next
visible period was after three Chaldsean revolutions,
in 1676 on June 1st., rising central in the Atlantic
Ocean, passing us about 9h. in the morning, with four
digits eclipsed on the under limb, and setting in the
gulf of Cochin-China in the East Indies. It being now
near the solstice, this eclipse was visible the very next
return, in 1694, in the evening; and in two periods
more, which was in 1730, on July 4, amounted to
rather more than six digits just after sunrise, and was
observed at Wittemburg in Germany, and Pekin in
China, soon after which it went off. Eighteen years
more afforded us the eclipse which fell on July 14,
1748. The next visible return was on July 25, 1766,
in the evening, about four digits being eclipsed ; again,
after two periods more, on August 16, 1802, early in
the morning, about five digits ; the centre coming
from the north frozen continent, by the Capes of Nor-
way, through Tartary, China, and Japan, to the La-
drone Islands, where it went off. Again, in 1820, on
Sept. 7, it was large at London, nine-tenths being ob-
scured ; but happening so near the equinox, the cen-
tre left every part of Britain to the west, and entered
Germany at Embden, passing by Venice, Naples, Grand
Cairo, and set in the gulf of Bassora, near that city.
It is no more visible here till 1874, Oct. 10, the centre
being now about to leave the earth, whence the central
and annular phase is exhibited only to a very small
portion of country north-east of Russia. Ferguson
says, " that about the year 2090 the whole penumbra
would be worn off, whence no more returns of this
eclipse could happen till after a revolution of 10,000

Return of the Cycles of Eclipses, 81

years/' In this he is wrong ; I find the same eclipse
will continue to return for a much longer period, before
it entirely leaves the earth. It would be visible in
this country again as a partial eclipse in Nov., 1928 ;
Dec, 1982; Jan., 2037; Feb., 2091, &c. In like man-
ner an eclipse of the moon, after coming on as a very
small obscuration, will get larger at every eighteen-
year return, till at length it becomes total. It will
continue so for several periods, and then gradually
diminish until it goes ofi". A lunar eclipse, which had
commenced a few hundred years ago, was still total
on July 18, 1692, when it was observed by Flamsteed.
Every eighteen years it became smaller and smaller.
At its return in 1800, its magnitude was two-tenths,
in 1836 less than one-tenth. On the morning of
Nov. 15, 1872, this eclipse returned for the last time,
and would have been seen to obscure only one-fiftieth
part of the moon's diameter, if clouds had not in-
tervened.

To take another example. An eclipse of the moon
first became visible in June, 1835, as an obscuration
of one-thirteenth of her diameter. It returned in 1853
and 1871, increasing each time. It comes round again
in 1889, as an eclipse of nearly half the moon. In
1907 it will exhibit a magnitude of six-tenths, and
so forth.

8? Curious Phenomenon in Eclipse of 1927.

CHAPTEE VII.

CUEIOUS PHENOMENON IN THE SLIGHTLY TOTAL
SOLAR ECLIPSE, JUNE 29, 1927.

On the morning of June 29, 1927, there will be the
next solar eclipse in England in which anything in
the shape of totality can be seen. To those who will
be stationed in a line drawn from the Isle of Anglesey
across Northumberland, the sun will appear totally ob-
scured for just a few seconds. Here, therefore, and in
Norway and Sweden, a curious phsenomenon may be
noticed, viz. the appearance of the red flames, not as
prominences, but as a ring of red light surrounding
the sun. The probable appearance of such a phgeno-
menon in a slightly total eclipse of the sun was pointed
out by Professor Grant, in a paper contributed to the
December meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society
in 1871. The eclipse of June 29, 1927, seems to afford
such an opportunity as the Professor wished to find
out. Although this eclipse, then, is but an apology for
a total one, it may acquire an interest of its own for
our posterity. Professor Grant says, " Since the ap-
parent diameter of the moon sometimes exceeds, some-
times equals, and sometimes falls short of the apparent
diameter of the sun, it is obviously possible, that the
existence of such an envelope may be occasionally re-
vealed by the phaenomenon of a circle of red light sur-
rounding the moon's disc, during slightly total eclipses
of the sun. No instance, however, of such an occur-
rence has been recorded in the annals of telescopic

Future Eclipses, 83

observations of solar eclipses." " Seeing that when
a great number of solar eclipses, observed indifferently
with respect to the limiting lines of the moon's shadow
or penumbra, are taken into consideration, the slight
overlapping of the moon takes place at all parts of the
solar disc, and that wherever this overlapping really
does occur, there is visible at the moon's disc an arc
or band of red light, the existence of such a margin of
light becomes thus inductively traceable round the
entire contour of the solar disc.''

CHAPTER YIII.

FUTURE ECLIPSES..
The following list of eclipses in future years was
undertaken at first for my own information and curi-
osity. Delambre has left behind him a list of the
transits of Venus for a period of two thousand years.
Curiosity may, therefore, be gratified by some examina-
tion of the eclipses for a fourth of this period. Bishop
Pearson remarks, "Again, for the calculation of eclipses,
as it may be made for many thousands of years, and
be exactly true, and yet the world may end to-morrow,
because the calculation is made with this condition, if
the bodies of the earth, sun and moon, continue in
their substance and proper motion so long ; so it may
be made for millions of years past, and be true, if the
world have been so old, which the calculation does not
prove, but supposed" The question of future eclipses

« Pearson on Creed, Art. Maker of Heaven and Earth. The Bishop
is here shewing the non-eternity of the world, from the fact that

84 Future Eclipses.

was gone into in some measure in the last century.
In the Memoires of the French Academy (1768),, there
is a paper by M. du Vaucel on the Solar Eclipses visible
at Paris after 1767, but it goes no further than 1900.
This catalogue was computed from the tables of Mayer
to gratify the French, king, who was anxious to know
whether a total or annular eclipse was going to happen
soon. Hallasckha's list of eclipses does not go beyond
the limits of the present century. For the following
eclipses, which will be visible in England during the
next forty years, I have used the same tables as lor
the ancient ones.

1874. Eclipse of sun, Oct. 10, lOh. (morn.), magni-
tude between three and four-tenths on the upper limb.
Total eclipse of the moon on Oct. 25, of which a partial
phase will be visible to us. The transit of Yenus, on
the morning of Dec. 9, cannot be seen nearer than
eastern Russia.

1875. Eclipse of sun, soon after noon, Sept. 29 ;
but only one-tenth on the extreme south of the sun's
face. In the north of England the magnitude will be
almost nil. There will be an occulation of Spica Vir-
ginis on the morning of Nov. 23. Immersion behind
the moon's bright limb 7h. 25m., emersion 8h. 37m.

heathen historians and poets can find no theme before the Trojan
and Theban wars, and the adventure of the Argonauts. He said that
" although the Egyptian priests gave a catalogue of ecUpses of the
sun and moon for myriads of years, it does not follow that they were
taken from observation, but merely from proleptical supposition."
Mr-Wniiam Chapman, of Foxton, Leicester, computed all the solar
ecUpses between 1766 and 2000. I have found it, in the main, correct,
but there are a few omissions and errors in his list ; the ecUpse of
1900 is omitted, &c.

Future Eclipses, 85

The moon at the time will be a crescent, and thouyjli
daylight has just arrived, a small telescope, screened
from the sun, will exhibit it as an interesting sight.

1876. Two eclipses of the moon, each of about one-
quarter of her diameter; the first on March 10, in
which the moon sets eclipsed ; the other on Sept. 3,
9^h. (evening). The Pleiades will be occulted by
the moon this year on Oct. 6, Nov. 30, Dec. 28. No
very great optical power will be needed to view this
pleasing phaenomenon. On Feb. 28, 1860, I witnessed
the occultation of three stars of the group, through an
old ship glass, with a power of 16.

1877. This year we shall have two visible total
eclipses of the moon; that on Feb. 27 begins about
moon-rise (why should we not use this word as well
as sun-rise), and ceases about nine o'clock. The other,
on Aug. 23, lasts from nine till one.

1878. An eclipse of six-tenths of the moon's lower
limb at midnight, Aug. 12. At the preceding new
moon, July 28, there will be an eclipse of the sun,
total in the western parts of America, as for instance
at Denver, in Colorado; also in the Island of Cuba.
Denver, where the sun's altitude will be pretty high,
offers the next best temptation to the amateur who
wishes to observe a total eclipse of the sun. The town
is easily reached by the Great Pacific Railway. A*de-
scription of it is given in " Good Words" for January
and March, 1873.

1879. Dec. 28. Small insignificant eclipse of the
moon. The middle, under two-tenths of her diameter,
is soon after she rises.

1880. On Dec. 16 the moon rises towards the end of

86 Future Eclipses.

the total phase of an eclipse. On Dec. 31 the sun is
between three and four-tenths eclipsed, on the upper
limb, about J to 3h. in the afternoon.

1881, Dec. 5. An eclipse of the moon commences
below the horizon. At the middle, when the moon
will have risen above an hour, only a crescent of less
than a tenth of her diameter will remain uncovered
at the lowest point.

1882. On the morning of May 17, there is a small
eclipse on the sun's south limb, but a fourth of his
diameter being obscured ; middle, about 6h. 50m. In
Upper Egypt, Persia, and across the Red Sea, about
the little island of Shadwan, this will be total. The
probable clearness of an eastern climate will offer in-
ducement for observers; but the duration of totality
is short.

1882, Dec. 6. Transit of Venus, partly visible in
England.

1883, Oct. 16. A small partial eclipse of the moon
this morning, which will only be seen for about half-
an-hour in this country, the moon then descending
below the horizon.

1884, Oct. 4. Total eclipse of the moon lOh. Oc-
cultations of Aldebaran may be expected about this
time.

1886, Aug. 29. An eclipse of the sun, not visible
here, but total at Grenada soon after 7h. a.m. for three
minutes, the sun's altitude 20^ The greatest duration
of the total phase, six minutes, an extraordinary length,
falls on the Atlantic; so that it cannot be observed
to full advantage. Some meteorological observations
taken on the east side of Grenada in August, 1873,

Future Eclipses, 87

shew the sky nineteen days cloudy, and twelve clear
about an hour after sunrise; not much better than
England.

1887, Aug. 3. Four- tenths of the moon obscured,
8f h. p.m. At the following new moon, Aug. 19, there
is an eclipse of the sun, which at one time was thought
likely to prove total in England, but upon more ac-
curate examination, the whole phaenoraenon is found
to end here just after the sun has risen. The total
phase is presented to view in Eastern Europe and Asia,
commencing in Germany. At Wilna, the easiest point
reached from this country, i.e. by steamer to Riga,
totality comes on less than an hour after sunrise, with
the sun at an altitude of 10°. The more easterly ob-
servers can get, the better chance they will have. We
may apply to this the somewhat poetical description
given in Moore's Almanack of the eclipse of 1842, hap-
pening under similar circumstances, that the "lovely
orb of day, having risen upon the summer scene, will
appear to sink back into the arms of night, while the
stars of heaven resume their twinkling."

1888, Total eclipse of the moon, Jan. 28, llfh.
night.

1889, Jan. 17. Eclipse of the moon, magnitude
seven-tenths, SJh. morn.

1889, July 12. An eclipse of the moon begins below
the horizon ; at the greatest phase, 9h., when the moon
will be risen high enough to be pretty well seen, nearly
half her surface will be obscured.

1890, June 17. Partial eclipse of the sun, magnitude
four-tenths, about 9h. 10m. ,

88 Future Eclipses.

1891, May 22. The termination of a lunar eclipse
happens above our horizon.

1891, June 6. One-fourth of the sun*s upper limb
obscured about 5h. 42m. afternoon.

1892, May 11. Eclipse of moon, nine-tenths of her
diameter under obscuration at eleven o'clock.

1892, Nov. 4. A lunar eclipse, only the end of which
will be seen, for scarcely an hour in this country.
Moon rises after totality is over.

1894, Sept. 15. Eclipse of moon, 4Jh. morn., mag-
nitude two-tenths.

1895, March 11. Total eclipse of moon, SJh. morn.
On the morning of March 26, the sun is eclipsed in
high northern latitudes, and the obscuration may reach
us, in a small degree, about half-past ten.

1895, Sept. 4. The moon sets just after the totality
of an eclipse commences.

1896, Feb. 28. Eclipse of moon, magnitude eight-
tenths, 7|h. afternoon. On the morning of Aug. 19,
there will be a total eclipse of the sun in Lapland, and
high northern latitudes. At Tana, iuFinmark, totality
begins, according to Hind, at 5h. 50m. 53s. morn.,
and lasts If m. Sun's altitude, 15°.

1898. Three lunar eclipses visible this year. Jan. 7,
12Jh. night, magnitude little over one-tenth. July 3,
begins below horizon, magnitude nine-tenths, 9:^h.
evening. Dec. 27, total llfh. night.

1899, June 8. One -fourth of the sun obscured,
5Jh. morn.

1899, Dec. 17. An almost total eclipse of the moon,
IJh. morn.

Future Eclipses, 89

1900, May 28. Seven-tenths of the sun will be
eclipsed in England about four o'clock in the after-
noon. Total across Spain. On the morning of June 13,
the moon appears just in contact with the earth's
shadov7, about sunrise. Hence there will be a duski-
ness or faint penumbra on the lower limb. Full moon
by the tables I used, 15h. 38m. Sun rises, 15h. 44m.

Twentieth Centuet.

1902, April 22. Eclipse of moon, middle about sun-
set ; moon rises towards the termination of the total
phase.

1902, Oct. 17. This morning the moon sets totally
eclipsed, but the greater part of the phsenomenon will
be seen from this country.

1903, April 11. Eclipse of moon, more than nine-
tenths obscured, 12ih. night.

1905, Feb. 19. Eclipse of moon, magnitude one-
third of her diameter, 7h. night.

1905, Aug. 15. About three-tenths of the moon ob-
scured, 3Jh. morning. The moon will be getting near
the horizon at the termination of the eclipse.

1905^ Aug. 30. Eclipse of the sun, the magnitude
will be eight-tenths in the south of England, in the
northern parts of the kingdom less than this. Total
over Madrid, and about the centre of Spain.

1906, Feb. 9 (morn.) A total eclipse of the moon,
but the moon sets soon after totality has been at-
tained.

1907, July 25. The moon begins to be eclipsed an
hour before sunrise. The greatest obscuration would

90 Future Eclipses.

amount to six-tenths of the moon's disc, but will not
be seen from this country.

1908, June 28. Little more than one-tenth of the
sun eclipsed, 5h. 35ra. p.m.

1909, June 4. Total eclipse of the moon, IJh.
morning.

1909, Nov. 27. The first half of a lunar eclipse
will be seen for about half- an -hour, and then the
moon sets.

1910, Nov. 16. Total eclipse of moon, 12ih. night.

1911, Halley's comet is due about this time.

1912, April 1. Partial eclipse of the moon, mag-
nitude only two-tenths, lOjh. night.

1912, April 17. The next solar eclipse in England,
of considerable size. At London I make the greatest
obscuration to come on at I2h. 22m. (noon), nine-
tenths of the sun's lower limb being obscured. In
the western and northern parts of the kingdom, the
magnitude will be slightly less than at London. It
is a return of the eclipse of 1858. In 1912 the cen-
tral and annular phase, which, however, will be almost
total, passes along the north of Portugal and Spain,
then a little west of Paris, and afterwards across Bel-
gium ; so it will not visit us in England, but merely
leave a large partial eclipse for our gaze ^.

1914, March 12. Nine-tenths of the upper part of
the moon eclipsed, 4:^h. morning.

* In this case, on the central line, instead of an unnatural gloom,
the spectators will be entertained with a thin ring of light encom-
passing the moon's dark body on every side, beautiful to behold ; but
this appearance will be of very brief duration.

Future Eclipses, 91

1914, August 21. Eclipse of the sun, of which
a partial view will be afforded to Great Britain. At
London two-thirds of the sun's disc will be eclipsed
at noon. In the western parts of the country, and in
Ireland, the size will be a little less than this. The
totality of this eclipse occurring about noon-day will
be a most striking phaBnomenon. It can be viewed
as near as Norway and Sweden. Drontheim and
Stockholm will probably be within the belt of the
total phase.

The next remarkable eclipse after this occurs on
April 8, 1921, and is evidently annular about the
Shetland Isles, or Orkneys, and, consequently, the
next central eclipse we shall have in Great Britain.
After that of 1927, the next eclipse that is of some
magnitude is on June 30, 1954. At London, be-
tween eight and nine-tenths of the sun's upper limb
are obscured about half-past twelve. The total phase
passes just north of the Shetland Islands; so it may
be viewed by a short trip out to sea. The eclipse of
1999 has been found by Mr. Hind to be total in the
south-west of England, continuing so for two minutes
at Plymouth, Torquay, Weymouth, &c.

The size of each eclipse is expressed by the old me-
thod of digits, or twelfth parts of the sun's surface ;
M. signifies morning, a. afternoon. Column (1.) gives
date, (2.) approximate time of greatest obscuration, (3.)
digits, or twelfth parts of the sun's diameter eclipsed.

(1.)

(2.)

(3.)

(!■)

(2.) (3.)

1905, Aug. 30,

1.4 a.

10

1912, AprU 17,

0.25 a. 11

1908, June 28,

5.40 A.

2

1914, Aug. 21.

11.57 m. 8

92

Future Eclipses.

(I.)

(2.)

(3.)

(1.)

(2.)

(3.)

1916, Feb.

3,

sets eclipsed

1959, Oct.

2,

0.21 M.

4

1919, Nov.

22,

>,

1961, Feb.

15,

7.28 M.

11

1920, „

10,

>>

1966, May

20,

9.28 M.

6

1921, April

8,

8.53 M.

10

1968, Sept.

22,

10.15 M.

4

1922, March 28,

2.8 a.

2

1971, Feb.

25,

9.31 M.

7

1925, Jan.

24,

3.50 A.

7

1972, July

10,

8.3 a.

6

1927, June

29,

5.12 M.

11

1973, Dec.

24,

sets before

1928, Nov.

12,

8.28 M.

2

the middle

1929, „

1,

11.37 M.

1

1975, May

11,

6.29 M.

6

1936, June

19,

4.15 M.

6

1976, April

29,

10.17 M

4

1939, April

19,

6.19 A.

4

1982, Dec.

15,

8.16 M.

5

1942, Sept.

10,

4.20 A.

4

1984, „

30,

6.13 a.

5

1945, July

9.

1.57 A.

7

1994, May

10,

6.45 A.

6

1949, April

28,

7.29 M.

4

1996, Oct.

12,

2.27 A.

7

1952, Feb.

24,

8.55 M.

1

1999, Aug.

11,

10.8 M.

11

1954, June

30,

0.28 A.

10

In all cases projections were made for London.

Eclipses op the Twentt-fiest Centfkt.

Those of 2026 and 2081 appear to be total in France,
that of 2093 is annular in England. In 2090 there is
an eclipse about twenty-five minutes before sunset,
total along the south coast, as e.g. Cornwall, Devon,
and Dorset s.

(1-)

(2.) (3.)

2003, May 31, rises eclipsed

2005, Oct. 3,

2006, March 29,
2008, Aug. 1,
2011, Jan. 4,
2015, March 20,
2017, Aug. 21,

9Jh. M. 7
10| M. 3
9 m. 2
sunrise 8
9^ M. 10
7 a. 2

(!■)

(2.) (3.)

2021, June 10,

lOjM.

3

2025, March 29,

IHm.

4

2026, Aug. 12,

6 a.

11

2027, „ 2,

9 m.

5

2028, Jan. 25,

4|A.

7

2030, June 1,

5iM.

7

2036, Aug. 21,

6 a.

8

8 Mr. Maguire, of Norwich, has informed me that he considers
Brighton just within the north limit of totality.

Future Eclipses.

9£

(10

(2.)

(3.)

(1-)

(2.)

(3.)

2037, Jan.

16,

8jM.

7

2076, Nov.

26,

11 M.

5

2038, July

2,

2 a.

1

2079, May

1,

11 M.

6

2039, June

21.

6iA.

9

2080, Sept.

13,

4|A.

9

2048, „

11,

l^A.

9

2081, „

3,

7iM.

11

2050, Nov.

14,

2 a.

9

2082, Feb.

27,

4 A.

6

2053, Sept.

12,

8jM.

7

2088, AprU

21,

lOjM.

6

2059, Nov.

5,

8 m.

9

2090, Sept.

23,

5iA.

11

2060, April

30,

lOjM.

2

2091, Feb.

18,

10 m.

6

2066, June

22,

8iM.

9

2092, „

6,

4JA.

7

2069, April

21,

10 m.

4

2093, July

23,

OiA.

11

2075, July

13,

4|M.

10

Eclipses of the Twenty-second Centuky.

For this century I find the four following very large
eclipses : —

2135, Oct. 7.
2142, May 24.
2151, June 14.
2200, April 14.

Greatest phase hour 7| m.

M „ 8|M.

,» >> »» "5 A*

» 5|A.

Those of 2135 and 2200 seem total in this country
north of London, but in the last instance the duration
could only be for a few seconds.

The eclipse of 2151, June 14, appeared at first total
at London, but on projecting a second time, I obtained
a thin crescent on the sun's disc. Hind computes the
central line to go through Garstang in Lancashire,
and that totality would last between two and three
minutes at Shefiield. Maguire has made the central
line to pass Ayr, Penrith, and Cromer. To speak
about this is the same as if an astronomer in the latter
years of Queen Elizabeth's time had written a pre-
diction about an eclipse at the present day.

94 Future Eclipses,

TWENTY-THIED CeNTUBT^.

Omitting cases in which the sun's serai- diameter ex-
ceeds the moon's, there seems no eclipse of any im-
portance, none in which the line of totality approaches
our shores. There is a nine-year period, producing
eclipses of some size in May of the following years,
2227, 2236, 2245, 2254.

TwENTY-rOIJETH CeNTTJEY.

In the first half of this century, I did not find
the " celestial sight " of which I was in search. But
on July 21, 2381, there is a fine eclipse of the sun,
which seems total in the more northern counties of
England. The moon is near perigee, the sun near
apogee. The middle is soon after ten in the morning.

Having arrived at this distant period, five hundred
years hence, we may now pause. One thing is notice-
able, that if this long search be accurate, it has not
revealed one solar eclipse total at London.

Should the present economy of things be spared so
long, we cannot conceive what will be the state of as-
tronomical science at that distant date, except, per-
haps, by comparing its present state with that of some
hundreds of years past. Of this we may be certain,
that as the phsenomena we have described have excited
men's marked attention from the earliest days, so they
will continue to do till the end of time.

^ We must wait till this century before Easter Sunday falls again
on March 22, its earliest possible date, a.d. 2285. It did so the last
time in 1818. It falls on April 25, its latest date, in 1734, 1886, 1943,
2038. It feU on April 24 in 1859, but wiH not do so again tiU 2011.

PAET IL

A CYCLE OF CELESTIAL OBJECTS FOR
A SMALL TELESCOPE.

PSALM xix. 1,

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firma-
ment sheweth His handy-work,

T'HE science of Astronomy appears to have been cul-
tivated by the immediate descendants of Adam :
for Josephus informs us that the sons of Seth em-
ployed themselves in it, and that they wrote their ob-
servations on two pillars, one of brick, the other of
stone, to preserve them against the destruction which
Adam had foretold should come on the earth. He
also relates that Abraham " read lectures in astronomy
and arithmetic to the Egyptians, which they under-
stood nothing of, till Abraham brought them from
Chaldaea into Egypt, and from there they passed to the
Greeks.'^ Berosus also observes that " Abraham was
a great and just man, and famous for his celestial ob-
servations," the making of which these sages thought
so necessary to the human welfare, that they assign
it as the principal cause of the Almighty's prolonging
the life of man. For the same author, giving an ac-
count of the longevity of the antediluvians, says, that
" Providence found it necessary for the study and ad-

96 Celestial Sights.

vancement of virtue, and for the improvement of Geo-
metry and Astronomy, which required at least six hun-
dred years for making and perfecting observations."
An observer, without any instrument, may do much
that will gratify himself, and be of advantage to man-
kind. He may note down the positions of the stars,
follow the wanderings of tlie planets, observe eclipses,
record the tracks of meteors. As to utility, let us
remember the calendar was altered and set right,
from observations made before the invention of the
telescope.

We are not about to teach astronomy here, but
rather, to use the words of the Hon. Mrs. Ward, to deal
with observation, "shewing how the stars appear in their
season, coming back year after year in their appointed
time, while the stately planets move in their solemn
paths among the stars, as they have done before our
time, and will do when we have passed away." The
observation of the starry heavens was carried on in
the earliest time in the plains of Clialdaea, and still the
observer should endeavour to get an unobstructed po-
sition, at any rate, towards the east, south, and west.
After all, much will depend on climate. For an object
to be astronomically visible and really visible are two
different things. Astronomers assure us of the first,
but only a clear and tranquil sky can give us the
second. For those who have very large telescopes,
and who are not disposed to take them to oriental
climates, it would be useful to have records of the
number of clear nights in different parts of the king-
dom. By clear nights, let us understand nights cloud-
less, or nearly so, till 11 p.m., or else clear for a full

Celestial Sights. 97

hour or two. Formerly my observations were taken
in South Lancashire, but since the early part of 1870
in Devonshire. In 1859 the number of nights clear,
partly or throughout, was sixty ; in 1860, forty-three ;
in 1861 and 1862, forty-six each ; in 1863, forty-seven ;
in 1864, eighty-three; in 1865, eighty-two; in 1866,
seventy-seven ; in 1867, fifty-five ; in 1868, sixty-two ;
in 1869, fifty-eight ; in 1870, a hundred and twelve ;
in 1871, ninety -eight; in 1872, ninety; in 1873,
eighty-two.

The Stjn.

The solar orb, as the great centre of our system,
must first claim our notice. When viewed with the
telescope, we shall perceive a number of dark spots on
the surface. Our countryman Harriot seems to have
detected them with a telescope as early as 1610. About
the same time they occupied the attention of Fabricius.
The latter does not seem to have used any dark glass
to mellow the sun's rays, but observed when the sun
was near the horizon, and his brilliancy impaired. The
nucleus or dark kernel of a sun-spot is surrounded
by an umbra or lighter part. "When approaching the
sun's limb, first the umbra and then the nucleus con-
tract, and appear fore-shortened. Spots of nearly 1' in
diameter are visible to the naked eye, through a piece
of smoked glass or through a fog. These spots take
different curved paths across the sun at different times
in the year. At the beginning of June and December,
however, they are seen to move in straight lines. They
are most plentiful every eleven years, as in 1859 and

H

98 Mercury.

1870. The sun is, of course, viewed by means of a
dark screen glass put on the eye-piece. It is also ad-
visable, except near sunrise and sunset, to use a dia-
gonal prism, which will give us only a portion of his
disc, otherwise there is a danger of the glass being
cracked by the heat, and instances of this have occurred
even with a 2\ in. telescope. Besides the dark spots,
certain bright streaks are, at times, to be seen on the
sun; they are not very easy of observation, but I have
on a few occasions found them within reach of 2J in.,
the best observation of this sort being on Dec. 21, 1869.
In high latitudes, the phsenomenon of a " parhelion,"
or mock sun, is often seen, a luminous halo surround-
ing the sun, with three or four images of the sun on it.
One or two mock suns, imperfectly formed, may oc-
casionally be seen in England ; the last time I noticed
the phsenomenon was on Jan. 19, 1872. It is rare to
see the mock suns perfectly formed in our country.
The "Saxon Chronicle" records that in 1104, on the
Tuesday after Pentecost, "four circles were seen at
midday about the sun, of a white hue, each described
under the other, as if they were measured."

Meectiey.

Sometimes, in spring, a little object like a first-mag-
nitude star may be seen following the sun, while the
twilight yet remains. If the amateur notices this, he
will not see it for more than a few successive nights.
Mercury never departs more than 29^ from the sun.
At the end of the year, he is too near the horizon to
be descried after sunset ; and in summer, the twilight

Mercury. 99

is too strong. The best time is about an hour after
sunset in March, and about an hour before sunrise in
September; I have never seen Mercury in the morn-
ings, but have several times been able to detect him
with the naked eye after sunset; three times in 1858,
(April) ; three times in March, 1860 ; three times in
February, 1862 ; once in April, 1865 ; once in February,
1868; once in April, 1871; twice in 1872; and twice
in March, 1873. Dr. Dick, in his " Celestial Scenery,"
speaks of seeing Mercury with the naked eye three or
four times. In Humboldt's CosmoSj there occurs the
following passage about the planet : — " If we remember
how much from the earliest times the Egyptians were
occupied with the planet Mercury (Set, Horus), and
the Indians with their Budha; how, under the clear
sky of Western Arabia, the star worship of the tribe
of the Asedites was directed exclusively to Mercury,
and that Ptolemy in the ninth book of the 'Almagest,'
was even able to avail himself of fourteen observations
of the planet, extending back to 261 years before our
era, and belonging in part to the Chaldaeans ; we shall
be surprised that Copernicus, who lived to attain his
seventieth year, should have had to complain on his
death -bed, that much as he had tried, he had never
seen Mercury. Nevertheless, the Greeks designated
the planet, and justly so, the 'strongly sparkling,'
(ttIX^cov, on account of its occasional intense light."
The amateur may look out for Mercury a little after
sunset, near the western horizon, on the following
dates, and a few days before and after: — 1874, Feb.
26; 1875, Feb. 8; 1876, Jan. 24; 1877, Jan. 10 (per-
haps), April 29; 1878, April 10; 1879, March 26;

100 Mercury,

1880, March 7; 1881, Feb. 20; 1882, Feb. 2; 1883,
May 6 ; 1884, April 18 ; 1885, March 31 ; 1886,
March 15. The apparitions of the planet are repeated
much the same, every thirteen years ; for instance, he
will come round in a similar manner in 1887 to 1874,
or thirteen years previously, in 1861.

At certain times, Mercury transits the disc of the
sun, appearing like a circular black spot. The first
time this was seen was by Gassendi, at Paris, in 1631.
In 1651, a young Englishman, Jeremiah Shackerley,
made a voyage to Surat, to observe a transit of Mer-
cury, which his calculations told him would not be
visible in England. It is satisfactory to know that he
was successful in his wishes. Ten years afterwards
there was another transit of Mercury. Thomas Street,
in his Astronomia Carolina, thus describes it in his
quaint way. We give his own words: "Anno 1661,
April 23, being the day of the coronation of our Most
Gracious Soveraign, King Charles the Second, that
iugenioas Gent. Christianus Hugenius of Zulichem,
Mr. Reeves, with other mathematical friends, and my-
self, being together at Long Acre, by the help of
a good telescope, with red glasses for saving our eyes,
saw Mercury from a little past one until two of the
clock, appearing in the sun, as a round black spot,
below and to the right hand, so that in the heavens
he was above and to the left from the sun's centre,
and entered on the sun much about one of the clock."
The diameter of Mercury to the diameter of the sun
seemed scarce so much as 1 to 100. At the transit
in 1799, a luminous ring was observed surrounding
Mercury, in its passage across the sun, indicating

Mercury. 101

probably an atmosphere of considerable density. On
the morning of Nov. 12, 1861, I caught sight of Mer-
cury, when transiting the sun, with an old ship-glass,
carrying a power of about 16. He appeared as a most
minute black spot. This shews the impossibility of
some ancient legends, of Mercury and Yenus being
seen on the sun^s disc for a long time with the
naked eye.

The next transit is on May 6, 1878, when we shall
see Mercury entered on the sun's disc about three
o'clock in the afternoon. The following transit in 1881
is not to be seen in England. There is another on
May 10, 1891, when Mercury passes oiF the sun soon
after sunrise, so we may observe something of it, if the
sky is very clear. Again, on Nov. 10, 1894, the in-
gress of Mercury on the sun takes place just before
sunset.

Suspicious-looking spots have been seen on the sun
at various times, one especially by Dr. Lescarbault at
Orgeres, in France, March 26, 1859. This was so far
taken up by some astronomers that they called it the
planet Yulcan. At any rate, it is worth while for ob-
servers to scrutinize the sun carefully, about the end
of March and the end of September, to verify this
point.

On April 25, 1838, there was an occultation of Mer-
cury by the moon under most singularly favourable
circumstances. It happened during the few days when
the planet is visible to us after sunset. The immersion
was at 8h. 29m., the emersion at 9h. 2m., the moon
setting at 9h. 24m.

If we want to turn our telescopes on Mercury, it

102 Venus.

must be done in the daytime. When visible to the
naked eye, he is too much in the mists of the horizon
for a distinct view with anything but a very low
power. Little or nothing has been made out definitely
with regard to markings on the planet. At one time,
it was considered some decisive results had been ob-
'tained, and Schroeter spoke of lofty mountains on the
surface, but one does not hear of modern observations
confirming this.

The sun would appear to Mercury seven times larger
than he does to us, and to Neptune he would have
dwindled to a star in the firmament. Hence we might
infer extreme heat in the one case, and extreme cold
in the other. The thickness of atmosphere might,
however, answer to ward off great heat in Mercury,
and in Neptune the same cause might prevent extreme
cold. At any rate, the Creator can suit the constitu-
tion of inhabitants to their dwelling. The Neptunians,
if such there be, may have the same opinion of the
heat of some planets nearer the sun that we have of
the climate of Mercury.

Yenvs.

"Ea-nepos oy koKXio-tos ev ovpavm torarai da-Trjp. — Somer.

This planet is frequently so brilliant as to be gazed
at with wonder by the most casual observer. It has
excited the admiration of every clime and age of the
world, whether shining in the west after the sun has
gone down, or heralding the approach of day in the
morning skies. It is spoken of by Homer and Hesiod,
the most ancient of the poets.

Venus. 103

The phases of Venus are one of the easiest objects
for a small telescope, nor is there much difficulty in
seeing it in the daytime with such means. On May
11, 1871, I picked up Yenus and Jupiter with a 2 J in.
telescope, about noon, when they were very near toge-
ther, the brilliant silvery colour of the former contrast-
ing strongly with the faintness of Jupiter when seen
in daylight. Venus was occulted by the moon so as
to be visible in England twice in 1841, once in 1867,
but each time in daylight. Again, on Oct. 14 of the
present year, 1874, Venus will disappear behind the
moon*s dark limb at 3h. 27m., and re-appear at the
bright limb at 4h. 42m. The moon at the time is four
days old ; and Venus will appear through the telescope
as a crescent a little wider than the moon. As the
sun sets at 5h. 8m., the phaenomenon will be in day-
light, but there is little doubt it will be visible to
the naked eye, and even through an opera-glass or
small telescope it will be a most pleasing spectacle.
Tycho Brahe, who lived before the invention of the
telescope, tells us he saw an occultation of Venus on
May 23, 1587, the planet going behind the moon,
when the sun was 15° high, and re-appearing when
the sun's altitude was 29°.

A small instrument will sometimes shew a slight
blunting of the cusps of Venus' crescent. Flamsteed
mentions such a case on Dec. 4, 1671, and I have oc-
casionally suspected it with 2J in. It is an interesting
point for observers to notice how long Venus remains
invisible when in conjunction with the sun. On Oct. 2,
1843, Dr. Dick perceived the planet within two hours
of its superior conjunction.

104 Venus.

The apparitions of Venus are repeated very much
in the same way every eight years ; so that any of the
following years may be multiplied by 8, 16, 24, &c.,
to give the planet's re-appearance in any future year ;
but telescopic observations should be made in daylight,
there being too much glare about the planet when the
sun is absent.

1874. The planet will not be a very striking object
this year. It will be visible in the evenings after
March, but will not remain long above the horizon
after sunset. At this appearance, which corresponds
to 1858 and 1866, I have noticed Yenus with the
naked eye after sunset till the third week in November.

1875. Not very well suited for observation. Best
seen in the mornings of January and February, when
it will appear a fine crescent through the telescope.
The last fortnight in the year it exhibits the resem-
blance to a little full moon, and will be visible just
after sunset.

1876. Yenus particularly splendid in the evening
skies till July. She should be observed with the tele-
scope in May and June, in the daytime. A fine morn-
ing star from August to the end of the year.

1877. As seen by the naked eye, Yenus will be
a fine object in the mornings of January, and in the
evenings of November and December. In the spring
and summer months she follows the sun too closely,
and will need an equatorial telescope to be easy of
observation.

1878. A striking object in the west during the
evenings of January and the first half of February.
Through the telescope, Yenus will appear a beautiful

Venus. 105

crescent, like the moon a few days after the change.
A morning star about August and September.

1879. Visible in the evenings of the spring and
summer months, and from September to the end of
the year in the mornings, when through a telescope
she will appear a beatiful crescent.

1880. The planet will be especially conspicuous
during the mornings of January, and the evenings of
December. In the spring and summer months, it does
not depart far from the sun, but an equatorial tele-
scope in the daytime will readily follow it, and even
one on a plain stand, with a little trouble.

1881. Very brilliant in the evenings till May ; after-
wards visible in the mornings till the end of the year.
A fine crescent in April.

The markings on Venus are faint, and somewhat
puzzling. Some observers declare they can detect
them without difficulty, and papers have recently been
presented to the Koyal Astronomical Society, stating
that they have been observed with a Gin. speculum,
4 in. achromatic, and even 2^ in. ; while Dawes could
never see them with 8 in., although he was able to
detect the little companions of Eigel and Polaris with
far less optical aid than any other observer. It has
been said that those who are the least successful in
catching the minute companions of double stars, are
generally the most likely to see these faint markings.
Similarly, telescopes which bring out minute points
of light well, are often not the best for dark streaks
on the planets, and vice versa. I have frequently ex-
amined Venus with every power on a 4 in. telescope,
but as yet have not been able to see any of these

106 Venus.

markings for certain. Probably, the observer need
not employ a high power for the purpose, and the
search should be made in the day-time.

Another puzzler is the satellite of Yenus, which
some observers speak of seeing. The common ex-
planation is, that a defect in the instrument caused
the illusion. It is difficult, however, to see how this
would explain away four observations in 1761, when
Montaigne saw a small crescent describe about 200''
of a circle round Yenus between the nights of May 3
and 11. If such a body exists, it must be seen as a
dark spot on the sun near Yenus at some of its tran-
sits. On this point, the following remarks of Dr. Dick
are worthy of the attention of observers : — " It is evi-
dent, that if Venus have a satellite, it must be difficult
to be seen, and can only be perceived in certain fa-
vourable positions. It cannot be seen when nearly
the whole of its enlightened hemisphere is turned to
the earth, on account of its great distance at such a
time, and its proximity to the sun ; nor could we ex-
pect to see it when the planet is near its inferior con-
junction, as it would then present^ to the earth only
a very slender crescent, besides being in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of the sun. The best position
in which such a body might be detected, is near the
time of the planet's greatest elongation, and when it
would appear about half enlightened. If the plane
of its orbit be nearly coincident with the plane of the
planet's orbit, it will be frequently hid by the inter-
position of the body of Yenus, and likewise when pass-
ing along her surface in the opposite point of its orbit ;
and if one side of this body be unfitted for reflecting

Transits of Venus. 107

much light, it will account in part for its being sel-
dom seen," We cannot, therefore, entirely disbelieve
in this supposed satellite of Yenus, till the transits of
1874 and 1882 are gone by. We must now proceed
to the transits of Yenus across the disc of the sun.

These transits, when observed at opposite points on
the earth's surface, afford the means of obtaining the
sun's parallax, and hence the distance of the sun, on
which so much depends. The sight of a transit of
Yenus was afforded in 1639 to the Rev. Jeremiah
Horrox, of Hoole, a young Lancashire clergyman, and
to him first since the creation. Horrox had discovered
that the transit would happen on November 24. He
communicated with his friend William Crabtree, of
Manchester, requesting him to observe especially the
diameter of Yenus, which, according to Kepler, would
be 7m. of a degree; according to Landsberg, (whose
tables were much vaunted at that time,) 11m.; but
according to his own expectation but Im. Horrox
observed at intervals on the 24th, being called away
at other times, he tells us, " by business of the highest
importance, which I could not, with propriety, neglect
for these pastimes" (meaning, to perform the Church's
offices, it being Sunday). But at 3h. 15m., when he
was again at liberty, the clouds were dispersed, and
then, says Horrox, " I beheld a most agreeable sight,
the object of my sanguine wishes, a spot of unusual
size, and perfectly circular shape, which had already
fully entered on the sun's disc on the left, so that the
limbs of the sun and Yenus precisely coincided."
Horrox was able, in the remaining half-hour before
the sun set, to make observations as to diameter, in-

108 Transits of Venus.

clination, approach of centres, &c. His friend Crab-
tree, at Manchester, had but one sight of Yenus, at
3.35, when the sun broke out from the clouds, but he
was too excited for observation, "scarcely trusting
hjs own senses through excess of joy," and before he
recovered himself, clouds came over the sun again.
Horrox, who appears to have been a prodigy for his
skill in mathematics and astronomy, died suddenly
about a month after the transit^. In 1716, Dr. Halley
pointed out the value of the ensuing transit of June
6, 1761, mentioning places for observation, and stating
that the entry of Yenus on the sun would not be visi-
ble in England, but that it might be seen in the north
frigid zone, the north coast of Norway, &c. ; that when
Yenus was nearest the sun's centre, the sun would be
vertical to the bay of Bengal. Halley urged that ob-
servations should be made at several places, lest clouds
should spoil " a sight which, I know not whether any
man living, in this or the next age, will ever see again ;
and on which depends the certain solution of a pro-
blem the most noble, and at any other time not to be
attained to. I commend it, therefore, again and again
to those curious scrutinizers of the stars, who, when I
am gone, will have an opportunity of observing these
things, that they would remember this my admoni-
tion.'' Early in the morning, when every one was
prepared for the transit, the sky was so cloudy as to
render it doubtful whether anything could be seen;

* James Gregory, the inventor of the Gregorian telescope, seems to
have shewn, in 1663, the great advantage to be derived from the
transits of Venus.

Transits of Venus. 109

but at 7^.38.21 the clouds had sufficiently broken at
Greenwich to allow Venus .to be seen on the sun.
The centre of Yenus then preceded the sun*s centre
by 6'.18."9 right ascension, and was south of the sun's
centre 18'.42'M declination. The internal contact of
Venus with the sun's limb, was at 8h. 19ra. Various
observations were obtained here, also at Stockholm,
Torneo in Lapland, Madras, Calcutta, &c.

On June 3, 1769, there happened the last transit of
Venus. As seen from the northern parts of the earth,
Venus was depressed by a parallax of latitude on the
sun's disc, so the visible duration of the transit was
lengthened ; in southern regions, she was elevated by
a parallax of latitude on the sun, which shortened the
visible duration of the transit with respect to its dura-
tion as supposed to be seen from the earth's centre.
The best observations were obtained by the Danish
astronomers in Lapland, and by Captain Cooke, who
was sent to Otaheite to observe the transit. The value
deduced for the sun's parallax from these transits, was
8".6. Eecent investigations have, however, led to the
conclusion that the parallax is 8". 9, and hence the
sun's distance from the earth three or four millions
of miles less than was supposed.

A considerable portion of the last pair of transits,
1761, 1769, was visible to Great Britain, but we are
not so fortunate in the next pair; that of 1874 being
wholly invisible here, and that of 1882 commencing
a little before sunset. At the last transit, in 1769,
Dr. Wilson requested the inhabitants of Glasgow to
put out their fires in the afternoon, that there might
be no smoke in the air to hinder the observations. It

110 Transit of Venus.

is gratifying to know that his request was heartily
complied with.

Transit of Dec. 9, 1874. As Yenus, after an interval
of 105 years, is about to pass over the suo once more,
astronomers are again on the qui vive. Both the entry
and departure of the planet from the sun must be ob-
served at stations where the sun is ascending, and
secondly, where he is sinking. We have selected eight
stations, besides Lord Lindsay's private expedition to
the Mauritius, the Americans eight, the Germans four,
the French five, the Russians nineteen in East Russia
and Siberia.

The transit of Dec. 6, 1882, will be partly visible in
Great Britain, Yenus being fully entered on the sun
at 2h. 5m. afternoon, (see frontispiece). So we hope
this will be seen by many who read these lines, but no
eye that casts sight on it may ever hope to behold
a similar spectacle again, for the succeeding transit is
not till June 8, 2004, when it will be visible through-
out in this country; commencement at Greenwich,
5h. 9m. 56s. morn., egress llh. 22m. 15s. morn. At the
following transit, June 6, 2012, the sun will rise at
Greenwich an hour before the planet begins to leave
his disc. The next pair of transits take place on
Dec. 10, 2117, and Dec. 8, 2125, the ingress of the
latter being visible here. The succeeding pair fall on
June 11, 2247 (visible throughout in Great Britain),
and June 8, 2255, partly visible here. A transit could
not take place under the most favourable circumstances
possible till the last on Delambre's list, June 14, of the
good year 2984, when the centres of Yenus and the
sun coincide within 0'.45" !

The Earth, 111

The Eaeth.

As the next planet in order from the sun, our own
globe will claim space for a few remarks. And here
we may notice an instance of the Creator's peculiar
favour to the whole of our world, for as the sun's rays
are withdrawn from the various parts of it, they get
the benefit of the moon's reflected light, and by this,
the darkness of the poles is relieved ; while by half of
the moon we are never seen, as she only turns round
her axis during the month she moves round us, always
presenting the same side to us. On that part of the
moon that does see us, we should reflect thirteen times
more light than the moon does on us, and appear thir-
teen times as large.

Some two centuries ago, a frenchman discovered on
a voyage, that when he was near the equator the beats
of his clock were not so frequent as in his native land.
In order to make it agree with his time, obtained by
observing the [stars, the pendulum had to be made
shorter. Similar experiments were made in other
places, and at length it was found that this alteration
diminished, the further one receded from the equator.
Degrees having been measured in difi'erent parts of
the earth, it was seen that the figure of our globe is
that called an oblate spheroid, in other words, some-
what flattened at the poles, and jutting out a little at
the equator.

The ancients, judging from mute gaze at the sky,
imagined the earth was in the centre, and the sun
and stars went round it. The absurdity of such an
idea may be seen by comparing the enormous size of

112 The Earth.

a globe like the sun, with a mere spec, such as our
world. There were, however, some men of deep thought
and observation. Pythagoras, 600 years B.C., declared
that the sun was in the centre, and that the earth and
planets went round it. This system, restored by Co-
pernicus, will account for all the phsenomena of the
heavens, which could not be explained if the earth did
not move round on its axis. If we study our earth
carefully, we shall see that everywhere it bears marks
of having undergone a fearful catastrophe. Fossil sub-
stances, which originally belonged to the sea, have
been found on the heights of mountains; the bones of
animals have been discovered in countries the most
remote from those they inhabit. Again, if we look at
our maps, we shall see the parts of one continent that
jut out, agree with the indented portions of another.
The prominent coast of Africa would fit in the opposite
opening between North and South America, and so in
numerous other instances. A general rending asunder
of the world would seem to have taken place, when
" the foundations of the great deep were broken up,"
and "the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth,
and all the high hills that were under the whole heaven
were covered." Such an excess of ocean, covering so
many millions of acres of ground, such scorching heat
in one climate, and withering cold in another, do not
indicate a world made for man in his primeval state,
but rather after his fall. At the Creation, therefore,
it is possible that the axis of the earth did not point
exactly the same as at present, and that a more equable
temperature prevailed.

Under the head of " the Earth " we may mention

The Earth. 113

the raost remarkable of those commotions called earth-
quakes in our country. One, in 1185, destroyed the
church of Lincoln ; another, in 1274, threw down the
church of Glastonbury ; others occurred as follows : —
1328, very severe over all England; 1382, several
churches thrown down in the southern counties ; 1426,
in the midland counties, accompanied by thunder and
lightning; 1428, very severe all over England; 1571,
Herefordshire, Marcley Hill removed, which contained
twenty-six acres ; 1693, in England, France, and Ger-
many, 60,000 persons perished in Sicily, Spanish Town
in Jamaica destroyed; 1703, felt in England and
Rome, Aquila in Naples destroyed, and 7000 persons ;
1734, in Ireland, destroyed one hundred houses and
five churches; 1755, felt in London and many other
parts of England, the same that destroyed Lisbon ;
1777, Manchester; 1790, Perthshire, many violent
concussions, and great variations in the barometer ;
1850, North Wales; 1852, slight shocks in Man-
chester ; 1863, many parts of England had slight
shocks.

Extremes of Temperature. — The hottest day on re-
cord in this country is July 14, 1808, when the ther-
mometer stood at 98*^ in the shade. At other times,
1750, July 11, therm. 96° ; July 13, 1808, therm. 93« ;
July 24, 1844, therm. 93°; July 18, 1859, therm. 93°.
1826, 1868, 1870 were summers of continued warmth
and dryness. For the coldest winters, we might men-
tion 1709, 1740; but the coldest month on record was
January, 1795. Again, on Christmas Day, 1796, and
on Christmas Day, 1860, the thermometer stood below
zero. The coldest spring in the present century was

I

114 The Earth,

1837. The years of most rain during the present
century were 1816, 1828, 1829, 1852, 1853, 1860. It
often happens that a great fall of rain for a day or two
may take place in the midst of long drought. 1834
and 1857 being summers of parching skies and heat,
brought an amount of water exceeding that of a real
wet summer. In such rainy summers as 1709, 1816,
1823, 1860 there were almost continual light falls. In
the year 768 the Black Sea and the Straits of Darda-
nelles were frozen over, the snow in some places drifted
fifty feet high. In 822, the Danube, Elbe, &c., were
so hard frozen as to bear heavy waggons. In 1134, the
Po was frozen from Cremona to the sea ; the wine-
sacks burst, and the trees split from the action of the
frost with immense noise. In 1316, the crops wholly
failed in Germany; wheat, which some years before
sold in England at six shillings the quarter, rose to
£2. In 1368, the wine distributed to the soldiers was
cut with hatchets. In 1683, most of the hollies were
killed. Coaches drove along the Thames (as in 1814),
the ice of which was eleven inches thick. The Thames
is said to have been frozen over for fourteen weeks in
1063; and below bridge to Gravesend, from Nov. 24
to Feb. 10, in 1434.

Marshal Bugeaud, when captain in the Spanish
campaign, under Napoleon I., met with a manuscript
bearing the following rules, and in after years he found
they held good from observation. Eleven times out
of twelve the weather remains the same during the
whole moon as on the fifth day, if it continues un-
changed over the sixth ; and nine times out of twelve
like the fourth day, if the sixth resembles the fourth.

The Earth and Moon. 115

In counting the fourth and sixth days we should be
particular in beginning from the exact time of the
new moon.

Most persons are acquainted with the old lines : —

" Saturday's moon and Sunday full
Never was fair and never wool (will)."

In February, 1849, it was proposed, in a scientific
periodical, to test this, the next Saturday's new moon
being on March 24. So it happened, that out of
a tolerable course of dry weather there came more
wind and rain on that Saturday, followed by a week
of clouds, slight rain, and snow. Dr. Forster, of
Bruges, had declared to the Astronomical Society that
in journals kept by himself, his father and grandfather,
from 1767 to 1849, every Saturday's moon had, in
nineteen cases out of twenty, been followed by twenty
wet and windy days. Qy. Where is the explanation
to be found ?

The Mooir.

When the brightness of the moon overpowers the
fainter stars the observer will have plenty to do in ex-
amining her surface. To see anything in the shape of
intelligent life on the moon is not to be expected.
The largest telescope ever constructed, Lord Rosse's,
has a speculum six feet in diameter. Supposing this
charged with a magnifying power of 6,000 times, (100
to the inch, an extreme power,) an object in the moon
would be seen as if forty miles off, a great deal too far
to discern animal life. A telescope to carry a far
higher power might be constructed, but the state of

116 The Moon:

our atmosphere would render these high magnifiers
utterly useless.

It is a curious point to notice how soon we can see
the crescent of the moon after new. In the spring
a casual observer may catch sight of it when very clear,
twenty-four hours afterwards ; but I have hardly ever
detected it younger than this. A case is related of
the moon's thin crescent being seen early one morn-
ing before sunrise, and after sunset the next day. But,
in the torrid zone, Vespucius is said to have seen the
moon to the east and west of the sun the same day.

It would seem that a lunar atmosphere, except of
great tenuity, does not exist. In some rare cases, a star
has been seen to linger on the edge of the moon during
an occultation, instead of popping out instantaneously.
This has been brought forward as an argument for
a lunar atmosphere. It has been said to have taken
place often with the bright red star Aldebaran. Smyth
says this is "owing to the greater proportionate re-
frangibility of the white lunar light than that of the
red light of the star, elevating her apparent disc at
the time and point of contact." We may here remark
that the amateur will not find occultations of bright
stars occur too often. Since that of Eegulus, in 1858,
I have seen no other but one of Aldebaran imper-
fectly in 1867. There were several first magnitude oc-
cultations in 1866 and 1869, but I always met with
a cloudy sky.

When the moon is about three or four days old, and
we see her hanging in the western sky, a faint, ashy,
grey light is visible all over the unenlightened part of
her surface ; in other words, the whole circle of her

The Moon. 117

surface is clearly seen. This is the earth-light received
on the moon, the sun^s-light that shines on our earth
reflected on to the moon. Humboldt tells us that Lam-
bert, on Feb. 14, 1774, noticed that this light on the
moon was of an olive-green colour. The moon, which
then stood vertically over the Atlantic, received the
earth-light sent to it, in a cloudless sky, from the forest-
covered regions of South America.

To enter into a description of lunar objects would be
impossible within the limits of this little work. The
best book for this purpose is Webb's " Cycle of Celes-
tial Objects." By studying the map given there, the
amateur will very soon become acquainted with the
principal mountains and plains. When the moon is
about a day old, I have noticed the mountains called
Ansgarius, Kastner, Hecatseus; at four or five days
old, the plains called the Mare Crisium and the Mare
Fecunditatis come into view pretty well. Shortly after-
wards they are succeeded by some still larger ones, the
Sea of Tranquillity and the Sea of Serenity. These
surfaces, though less rugged than other parts of the
moon, are by no means universally plain. In fact,
one of the craters on the Mare Tranquillitatis, called
Liune, has been the subject of much debate, from
some fancied alteration. Just as the moon has turned
the first quarter, a host of fine objects come into sight,
Walter, Regiomontanus, Purbach, Arrachel, Alphon-
sus, Ptolemaeus. About this time, the rough-looking
ramparts of Copernicus, still more rugged with every
increase of telescopic power, will occupy attention.
North of Copernicus is the little Pico, casting an enor-
mous long shadow, in the form of a pyramid. Still

118 The Moon— Mars.

further north is Plato, with its dark interior, which
has gained much interest from the observation of cer-
tain streaks and spots. As a contrast to this, the ob-
server will notice two small objects a good way east of
Plato, when the moon is about two days off her full,
Aristarchus and Herodotus; the former of them ap-
pears of a brilliant snowy whiteness. The grandest
lunar object is certainly Tycho. From this emanate
a number of peculiar bright streaks, running over
the moon's surface, and very conspicuous at the full.
Clavius, south of Tycho, will also be found a magni-
ficent specimen. It contains many craters in the in-
terior. Maginus, which lies nearly between the two,
is a vast ring, and, strange to say, becomes invisible at
the full. Some jagged mountains will also be noticed
on the very rim of the moon, the Leibnitz and Dorfel
mountains. They make the moon's limb appear rough
and uneven wheu projected on the sun in an eclipse.
I have found a power as high as 200 on 2 J in. very ser-
viceable for the moon. Many features may be brought
out even with a small instrument ; while, to wander
over the wild and apparently desolate surface of our
satellite with 185, 300, 420 on 4 inches is absorb-
ingly interesting.

Maes.

Every two years we may notice a fine red star rising
in the east, as the sun goes down. This is Mars,
which is so remarkable for the ruddiness of its light,
and the dark marks which a powerful telescope shews
on its surface. As its orbit is outside that of our
earth, we never see it like a half- moon, or a crescent.

Mars. 119

if we turn our instrument to it. Sometimes, however,
it appears a little gibbous, like the moon a few days
short of the full. The ruddy tint of Mars was once
ascribed to thickness of atmosphere, but now generally
to the colour of the soil, such as red sandstone. When
the planet is near its opposition to the sun, something
may be seen of the dark marks on its surface, with
only a small instrument, if really good. After ex-
amining the planet in May, 1873, with a 4 in. tele-
scope, I brought out a 2:]^ ^n., and was astonished at
the distinctness with which it exhibited the dark mark-
ings, especially on fine evenings. Everything that
could be seen with 4 in. could be distinctly traced with
2iin., only smaller, and a little fainter. Flamsteed,
who had very inferior optical aid, gives us a drawing
of Mars, taken Oct. 11, 1672, in his Historia Celestis.
It shews a resemblance to a sun-spot with a penumbra.
He adds, "Planetse semper circa medium obscuritas
aliqua apparuit''." At the next opposition, in 1875,
the planet will be very low in the south, and its dia-
meter small. But in the autumn of 1877 there will
be an opposition in the constellation Aquarius, under
the most favourable circumstances. The planet will
arrest the attention of the most casual star-gazer.
Such a case happened in 1719, when Mars, equalling
Jupiter in splendour, but of a blood-red colour, created
a perfect alarm among the peasantry in France.

Several attempts have been made to discover the
solar parallax by the oppositions of Mars, but they do
not seem to yield results quite as accurate as the tran-

»» In my note-book, Sept. 30, 1862, I find I have made a remark in
almost the same words, using power 70 on 24 inches.

120 Mars,

sits of Venus, affected, though the latter are, by irra-
diation. The first case of this appears to have been by
riarasteed in 1672. He found the planet would pass
among the three stars marked i|r in the water of Aqua-
rius. He tells us, " My father's affairs caused me to
take a journey into Lancashire, the very day I had
designed to begin my observations; but God's Provi-
dence so ordered it, that they gave me an opportunity
to visit Townley, where I was kindly entertained by
Mr. Townley, with whose instruments I saw Mars near
the middlemost of the three adjacent fixed stars. My
stay in Lancashire was short. At my return from
there, I took his distance from three of them at dif-
ferent times of the night ; whence I determined his
parallax, then 25", equal to his visible diameter, which
therefore must be its constant measure, and conse-
quently the sun's horizontal parallax, not more than
10". The French, soon after, declared, from their ob-
servations, that they had found the same."

Some white spots at the poles of the planet have
been considered to indicate snow, for they vanish after
being long exposed to the sun, and are largest when
emerging from the polar winter in Mars.

The dark markings are considered seas, for water
will reflect a less quantity of the sun's light than land.
The proportion of ocean to land on Mars seems just
the reverse to that on our globe. In the features of
Mars, the only planet that comes near enough for us
to scrutinize its surface, we find a striking similarity
to our own earth.

The Minor Planets. — The great blank between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter had long been considered

The Minor Planets — Jupiter. 121

unaccountable. At length, in the year 1800, it was
resolved that a search should be made for some un-
known world, and the first day of the present cen-
tury, Jan. 1, 1801, was signalized by the discovery at
Palermo of a little erratic star in the constellation
Taurus. After three others had been detected, these
little bodies were supposed to be hunted up, but again,
in 1845, another was found, and since then, every year
brings us some more. Not to lose sight of these little
points of light, adds immensely to the labours of our
celebrated observatories. The amateur must not ex-
pect to pick up any of them, unless he have a chart of
stars of very small magnitudes, and then he may com-
pare this with the heavens, and search for "wan-
derers.'* Vesta, the brightest of the group, was oc-
culted by the moon on the night of Dec. 30, 1871.
I was enabled to catch sight of its re-appearance
on the moon's dark limb with a power of 70 on
2i inches.

JUPITEE.

Next to Venus, Jupiter is the planet that shines
with the greatest brilliance, and most attracts the at-
tention of the commonest observer. When we look at
Jupiter through a good telescope, we perceive several
parallel bands stretching across his globe. These were
first noticed about twenty years after Galileo had ob-
served the satellites. A very small instrument is suffi-
cient to bring out one or two of them, and the whole
four are very easy of observation. Their discovery by
Galileo in 1610 is related in his Nuntius Sidereus. He
tells us he first heard of a perspective, made by a Bel-

122 Jupiter.

gian, that brought objects much nearer the eye. At
length, " after sparing no expense and labour," he
constructed an instrument that performed admirably
on terrestrial objects, and shewed the moon also to be
" rough and full of cavities like the face of the earth."
On Jan. 7, Jupiter being in view, he saw three bright
little stars near him ; and although he thought they
belonged to the fixed class, he very much admired
them, because they seemed in a straight line, and
parallel to the ecliptic. On Jan. 11, he came to the
conclusion that there were "three stars wandering
round Jupiter, like Yenus and Mercury round the
Sun." On the 13th he found they were four in num-
ber. He was enabled to observe them till March 2.
The eclipses, transits, occultations of these little moons
by the body of Jupiter always prove highly interesting
to the astronomer. They cannot all be eclipsed toge-
ther, but by one or two being behind Jupiter, there
may be an entire disappearance of them for a time.
Jupiter has thus been seen diyested of his satellites
four times, once in 1681, and three times in the pre-
sent century, the last occasion being on August 21,
1867.

The amateur may set his watch correctly by ob-
serving the eclipses of Jupiter's first satellite, and to
within a trifle by the second satellite. This may be
done with a small telescope. The disappearance or
re-appearance of the first and second takes place very
rapidly. Both immersion into Jupiter's shadow, and
emersion from it may often be seen with the third
and fourth, and this is sometimes the case with the
second. The eclipses of the third satellite are two or

Jupiter. 123

three minutes wrong at times, and those of the fourth
sometimes as much as twenty minutes at variance from
the predicted time. Those of the first afi'ord means
of determining the longitude of places on the earth.

Many years after these satellites had been discovered,
it was noticed that the eclipses of them were sixteen
minutes later, when the earth was at its greatest dis-
tance from Jupiter, than when it was at its nearest
point. The conclusion indicated was, that light is not
propagated instantaneously, but takes a certain time to
travel from one object to another.

Besides the belts, certain other spots have occa-
sionally been seen on the planet. By the revolution
of one of these, the rotation of Jupiter was found to
be under ten hours. With such a short day as this,
the heavens would appear to a spectator on the planet
to be changing every minute. We may imagine how
the nocturnal scene from Jupiter must be diversified
by these four moons, one rising, another high in the
south, another going down in the west ; at other times
all the four shining in one glorious assemblage.

The last occultation of Jupiter by the moon visible
here took place on May 24, 1860, in daylight. Still
I managed to catch sight of the planet with an old
ship-glass, power 16.

Thomas Street, in his Astronomia Carolinay gives us
the following : ''Anno 1170, Sept. 13, midnight, two of
the planets were so conjoined, that it appeared as if
they had been one and the same star, but they were
presently separated. (Gervasii Chronicon.) These two
planets were Jupiter and Mars, being then so near
together that they appeared as one star."

124 Jupiter — Saturn.

On Jan. 9, 1591, Kepler witnessed an occultation of
Jupiter by Mars, and the red colour of the latter
clearly indicated that Jupiter was the further of
the two.

Our earth would be too small, and too near the
sun, to be seen from Jupiter ; and Jupiter himself is
situated but one fourth of the way across our solar
system. It is a humiliating thought for man's pride,
that before we could pass one quarter of the distance
across our own solar system, our world would have
altogether vanished from sight like an atom in the uni-
verse, and would be as though it never existed.

Saturn.

Very diflPerent is the appearance of this planet to
the naked eye, and the telescope. With the one, it
is but a dull-looking star of scarcely the first magni-
tude ; through the other, our eye is attracted by the
appearance of a singular ring surrounding a globe.
Gralileo, whose telescope was not powerful enough to
bring it out as a ring, could not tell what to make of
its malformation, and so he concluded the planet was
" triple-shaped." Half a century afterwards, Hevelius
was enabled to state that it was surrounded by a ring
"nowhere adhering to it." A few years more passed
over, and this ring was found to consist of two. Mo-
dern observations, with gigantic instruments, exhibit
several other subdivisions of the ring. With a 2 J in.
telescope, and power 100, a very fair view of Saturn's
ring may be obtained, and also of one of his satellites.
Titan, which is equal to a star of the eighth magni-
tude. Occasionally, I have caught sight of another

Saturn. 125

satellite with these means. AVith 4 in. I have no diffi-
culty in detecting four satellites, when the planet is
near opposition, and no doubt all the old five would
lie within its reach at times. The fainter satellites re-
quire first-class instruments. To obtain a good view
of the division of the ring even with 4 in., the planet
must be pretty favourably placed, and not at a low
altitude. Every fifteen years the ring disappears from
sight to all but the largest telescopes, the thin edge
being then turned to the earth. For a few days before
and after this takes place, the ring has the appearance
of a fine pencil of light on each side of the planet.
Such was the case the last time in 1862. The belts
on Saturn are very faint and difficult of observation
compared with those on Jupiter. I witnessed occul-
tations of Saturn by the moon on the evenings of
May 8, 1859, and Sept. 30, 1870. On each occasion,
the dull hue of the planet contrasted strikingly with
the brilliant yellow of the moon. Old Thomas Street
tells us that Builialdus found an ancient Greek manu-
script, relating an occultation of Saturn by the moon
" observed in the year of Christ 503, Feb. 21, at night ;
in which, near about the fourth hour, the moon hid the
star of Saturn ; but after Saturn was fully freed from
the interposition of the moon, the observator, together
with his loving brother, found the temporal hours by
an astrolabe 5J, so they conjectured a central conjunc-
tion of the moon and Saturn about the 5th hour, for
he appeared to emerge in the middle of the enlightened
part of her circumference."

Uranus and Neptune. — If unprovided with an equa-
torial stand, the amateur will have some difficulty in

126 The Aurora.

picking up the two remotest members of our solar
system, and when he is able to make them out by
their motion among the stars, they will scarcely repay
the search. Uranus was occulted by the moon in 1871,
the time of the occultation shewing the tables to be
about five minutes wrong. Neptune is about equal
in light to Saturn's brightest satellite.

The ArROEA.

This is a phsenomenon which will attract the atten-
tion of the observer, especially in "the winter months.
It is seen in perfection near the poles, and is not
visible from regions round the equator of the earth.
It is usually of a whitish colour, occasionally tinted
with green, but more commonly with red. Sometimes
it takes the form of an arch of light, but this is not
often the case in latitudes so far south as Great Britain.
It has been considered a result of a combination of the
two powers of magnetism and electricity. Dr. Wykan-
dar and Lieutenant Parent, having studied the Aurora
with the aid of the spectroscope, think it related to the
fall of fine particles of iron and carbon, the presence of
hydrogen, and probably of snow. The whole phseno-
menon appears at some periods more frequently than
at others. Stow, the chronicler, gives us a quaint de-
scription of a display in the year 1575, wherein " the
heavens did burn marvellous ragingly.*' Eor a great
many years the Aurora had not been seen in England
till March 6, 1716, when there burst into view a bril-
liant exhibition visible from the west of Ireland to
Russia. On Feb. 17, 1773, Captain Cook, who was

The Aurora. 127

then in southern latitudes, witnessed a fine Aurora
Australis. Although in most respects similar to our
northern lights, it differed from them in being always
of a whitish hue. Of late, it has been found that fine
displays of the Aurora take place about every eleven
years, at which period there is also an excessive num-
ber of solar spots, and a disturbance in Jupiter's belts.
On May 13, 1869, I observed an Aurora, which caused
the sky for some time to assume the resemblance to
an enormous umbrella. Thick columns of light started
up from the horizon on all sides, and met at a point
overhead. Though there was no moon or twilight, the
time could be easily read on a small watch held at
the distance of a foot from the eye. On the night
of Oct. 24, 1870, we had a complete arctic display.
A superb rosy arc extended from north to north-east,
the heavens there resembling a red curtain illuminated
from behind, or being like flames erupted from a vol-
cano. Early in the evening of Feb. 4, 1872, a magni-
ficent Aurora was seen all over Europe, and at Alex-
andria, &c. Streamers of a brilliant carmine colour
sprung up side by side with greenish streamers, gene-
rally converging to a point overhead. The coruscations
were intensely vivid. In old times, accounts spoke of
a crackling sound accompanying the Aurora, but it has
been well observed that as Aurorse became better un-
derstood, they also became less noisy.

The Zodiacal light. — Sometimes in February and
March, after sunset, an ill-defined light of a conical
shape may be seen in the west. This is termed the
Zodiacal light. The first clear notice of it seems to
have been published by Childrey, chaplain to Lord

128 Meteors.

Somerset, in 1661. Tycho Brahe had mistaken the
phsenoraenon for the evening twilight. On Feb. 21,
1870, I witnessed this phsenomenon from Lytham, on
the Lancashire coast. It stretched faintly beyond the
head of Aries. The extent near the base was from
about a Pegasi into Cetus. The time was about TJh.,
and twilight had gone. The cause of the zodiacal light
has been conjectured to be a ring of nebulous matter
revolving between the orbits of Mercury and Yenus.

Meteoes.

These brief notes on astronomy would be incom-
plete, were we 'to omit a few remarks on the subject
of Meteors. Appearing suddenly in the nocturnal
skies, they sometimes startle the beholder by their size
and trains. The origin would appear to be some mass
of nebulous matter. This idea is strengthened by the
fact that Meteors in abundance enter our atmosphere
at stated periods ; the most plentiful displays being on
Aug. 10 and Nov. 13. Those who witnessed the glori-
ous sight in 1866 will be able to bear this out. At
Greenwich, on this occasion, 7,000 were counted be-
tween eleven o'clock and five. Of these, 4,000 were
between one and two. The November meteors are
subject to a periodicity of 33 or 34 years. They had
been seen in great brilliancy on Nov. 12, 1833, in
America. Between the hours of four and six that
morning, it was estimated that more than 1,000 per
minute might have been counted, and they continued
till the sun's brightness overpowered them. MM. Bon-
pland and Humboldt saw the previous return, in No-

Meteors, 129

veraber, 1799, at Curaana, in South America. From
the beginning of the spectacle, there was not a place
in the firmament, equal in extent to three diameters
of the moon, which was not filled at every instant with
falling stars. The inhabitants of Cumana stated that
the earthquakes of 1766 were preceded by similar phse-
nomena. As the November falls are now declining in
importance, we must look to the August ones, and they
are steady and certain. The August stream was often
termed the " tears of St. Lawrence." Humboldt says
that, from several years of observation, there were on
August 9th twenty-nine meteors per hour; on the
10th, thirty-one; on the 11th, nineteen; on the 12th,
seven. Clouds and moonlight have interfered with my
own observations of the August meteors every year,
except one, 1871, when the nights of the 9th, 10th,
11th, 12th, were perfectly clear, and the moon absent.
On the night of the 9th, I noticed ten meteors per
hour ; on the 10th, thirty-seven ; 11th, twenty ; 12th,
nine. As only a third or a fourth part of the sky could
come under my gaze at a time, these numbers would
have to be multiplied to ascertain the actual number
passing across the sky at the time. Another minor
period, but deserving attention, occurs about April 20th.
Streams of meteors are said to have been seen, in
former times, about this date. In 1870, I noticed
several bright meteors on April 18 and 20. The radiant
point of the August meteors is in the constellation
Perseus ; that of the November meteors, in Leo.

Apropos of meteors, there was a communication in
the "Spectator'' some time back, by:the Rev. E. L.
Garbett, suggesting that the cities of Sodom and Go-

130 Origin of Constellations.

morrah were destroyed by a group of the meteors
following TempeVs telescopic comet of 1866.

1. The period deduced for the node-passage of the
comet's two observed visits, 1366 and 1866, would give
a visit in the autumn between b.c. 1898 and 1897, in
one of which years the catastrophe is dated, conse-
quently in the right biennium out of 164-

2. The earth's passage of the node was then about
July 31, and the event was in a hot season (when
Abraham needed shade at noon, and the visitors pro-
posed abiding in the street all night). Suppose this
applicable in Palestine to half the year, we have the
right half-year out of two.

3. A fall, as vertical as rain ("then the Lord
rained ''), was possible, from this source, in no hour
but that of sunrise. Hence we have the right hour
out of twenty-four.

4. Dividing each hemisphere (say) into eight zones
of latitude, this degree of verticality was possible in
none of these, but the third north. Hence we have
the right latitude region out of sixteen.

5. Sodium, the chief element in the abnormal depo-
sits, now there (and in the salt with which Lot's wife
is recorded to have been covered), was also the chief,
observed by Secchi, in these meteors ; and it is not
the chief in one-thousandth of the matters on earth.
But, supposing a twentieth of all matter to display it
as prominently as the meteors did, we have the right
chief element out of twenty.

6. Magnesium, the second in those salt deposits,
was the only other ingredient conspicuous to Secchi
in the meteors by means of the spectroscope, and

Origin of Constellations. 131

would not be thus conspicuous in one known solid
out of ten.

Suppose any event, not due to this comet, to be
recorded. The chances against the account presenting
these six agreements with its elements, and no dis-
agreement, are found by deducting 1 from 16^ x 2 x
24 X 16 X 20 X 10, that is, three millions to one that
the history of Sodom is true, and this the physical
cause.

List of 152 Double Stars and NebuloB.

The ancients divided the starry sphere into constel-
lations, or groups of stars, just as they lay near one
another, so as to occupy the spaces which the figures
of different sorts of animals would take up if they were
delineated there. The twelve constellations of the
zodiac stretch round the heavens. They take in the
orbits of the moon and the principal planets. Along
the middle of this belt is the ecliptic, or circle, which
the earth describes every year, if we could see it from
the sun, and which the sun appears to describe as we
see it from the earth. The distribution of the stars
into constellations dates from the first ages of the
world. The fact that very few constellations really re-
semble the animal or thing whose name they bear is
easily accounted for. Our primitive fathers made the
groups of stars indicate what they wished to perpetuate.
They did not pick out a group of stars, and think first
what figure it might faintly resemble. The principal
constellations were known, as we have them now,
among all nations, and in all ages. They are recog-
nised in most ancient monuments. Aquarius has been
supposed to refer to the overflowing of the Nile;

132 Origin of Constellations.

Yirgo, to the harvest in primeval times. But if one
constellation coincides with a certain season, there is
seldom a plausible explanation to be given of another.
A Divine symbolical origin has been suggested. In all
nations the tradition has prevailed of one, born of
a woman, engaged in conflict with a serpent, and at
last triumphing over him. This tradition seems re-
flected in the emblems of the ancient constellations.
It has been remarked, that the primitive year must
have begun in Virgo, the stars of which would shine
in the evening sky, when the sun was in Aries. " The
splendid star, still called by us Spica, the ear of corn
in the woman's hand, marked the leading idea, the
Promised Seed. In this sign, long before the Chris-
tian era, there was figured, in the Egyptian zodiac,
a woman with an ear of corn in her hand, and below,
another female figure holding an infant. In the next
sign, Libra, we have His work, which was to buy, to
redeem, figured in the balance, weighing the price
against the purchase. Then, in Scorpio, follows an in-
dication of what that price was to be ; the conflict in
which the seed of the woman receives the wound in his
heel, while his other foot is on the head of the enemy,
here figured by the Scorpion, a venomous reptile, which
can sting, even whde his head is bruised." — [Rolleston)
In each other sign of the zodiac, some point in man's
redemption is said to be indicated, till we come to Leo,
representing invincible strength, and so the final sepa-
ration between the good and evil. The feet of Leo
have always been placed on the constellation Hydra,
the serpent, thus representing the final crushing of the
serpent, man's great enemy. It has also been sug-

Constellations and PrimcEval Alphabet. 133

gested, that the well-known constellation of the Great
Bear may, in primitive ages, have been an emblem of
death. It is probable there might be such an emblem,
and the Bear would be a very fit animal to represent
it. Its Arabic name was Banaat n'ash, " daughters of
the bier." It would pursue its slow constant course,
like a funeral procession, round the Pole-star, k Dra-
conis, 4000 years ago. Draco, situated near the Bear,
has been supposed to indicate the serpent, who sug-
gested the sin of which death was the penalty. Near
this, Bootes, with its bright star Arcturus, the Bear-
keeper, twice mentioned by Hesiod, has been called an
emblem of Him who controls Death and Satan. One
of the Arabic names of this constellation is Haris-as-
Sema, " keeper of heaven."

According to an ancient Jewish belief, the twelve
constellations of the zodiac were expressed by the
first twelve letters of the alphabet. There is a like-
ness between the position of the chief stars in these
constellations and the first twelve Hebrew letters, be-
ginning in Taurus.

The cipher emblems, by which the twelve zodiacal
constellations have always been expressed up to the
present day, also bear some resemblance to the stars
in each sign. The form of any of these emblems can-
not be found in any other constellation but its own.
" If the antediluvians found appropriate ciphers, in
the twelve signs of the zodiac, to represent the signs
themselves, it is but going one step further to say that
they found, in the natural configuration of the con-
stellations, their one primaeval alphabet. That astro-
nomy and the primaeval alphabet originated much

134 Powers of Telescopes,

about the same time, was an ancient belief, as it is
by some of the Jewish rabbins in our day/' — [Broome.)
Yery interesting, even if not convincing, reasons for
the above statements will be found by Mr. G. J. Walker,
(quoting from the late F. Rolleston,) Rev. J. H. Broome,
&c., in the " Astronomical Register '' for Nov., 1867 ;
Sept., Dec, 1870 ; Sept., 1871. The reader would find
the perusal of the above articles would well repay his
time.

"We now proceed to note what objects may be seen
with a small instrument. Much more may be done
than one might suppose with such an instrument, as,
says Mrs. Ward, " we may see at every sixth window,
on a fine summer's day at a watering-place, its object-
glass, capable of better things, idly directed to fishing-
boat or distant steamer, or, still more idly, to some
unconscious group on the pier.'' A small telescope,
if the object-glass is really good, will often bear a high
magnifying power, and with a little practice the ama-
teur will soon find the use of it. On my 2^ in. achro-
matic, by Cooke, a power of 200 can be employed with
advantage ^. On my 4 in., by Wray, a power of 420
is useful for a lunar crater, or Saturn's ring, and oc-
casionally for a close double star. The amateur will
find a very low power the best for comets, a somewhat
higher one for nebulae, about 40 to the inch of aperture
for the planets, and about 60 to the inch for double-
stars. The standard work on double-stars and nebulae,

* Opticians, however, seem to have a dislike to making these deep
eye-pieces for small telescopes. The makers refused to supply me
one for my 2| in. Nearly twelve years after obtaining the instru-
ment, I managed to procure one from another optician.

Andromeda. 135

SmytVs " Cycle of Celestial Objects," was compiled
from observations taken with a 6 in. glass. Webb,
in his " Celestial Objects," states the limits of his ^^-^
in. to be stars of the eleventh magnitude. "With my
4 in., stars of the twelfth are readily discernible, when
sufficiently removed from the glare of a bright star.
The limit of a 2^ in. is stars of magnitude 8f, and oc-
casionally magnitude 9.

From the right ascension, and north or south de-
clination, the position of any of the following may be
easily seen, by referring to a star atlas. The dots in
dicate the double-stars. Of course they will only be
in this relative position when the object is on or near
the meridian. The following list contains the double
stars and nebulae which I have frequently examined
with 21 in., using powers of 70, 100, 150, 200.

Andeomeda.

(1.) •. 7 Andromedse, mag. of the components 34,
54, dis. 11''. Right ascension 1^ 56'. Decl. north 41f^
One of the loveliest objects in the sky, and yet it only
began to attract attention ninety-six years ago. The
larger star will be found orange-coloured, the smaller,
green. The smaller is also double ; a good test for
a 6 in. achromatic, or an 8 in. reflector.

(2.) •. 59 Andromedse, mag. 6, 74, dis. 16". r. a.
2^ 3'. decl. 384« n.

(3.) •. 175 p. o. Andr., mag. 8, 8, dis. 46". 0^ 39',
N. 30i°. By referring to S, this object will be easily
found.

(4.) Nebula 31 m. r.a. 0^^ 36'. Dec. n. 404«. A
splendid neb. A little patch of hazy light may be de-
tected by the naked eye, and as such it is mentioned

136 Andromeda — Aquarius.

as far back as a.d. 905. Marius, who looked at it
through a telescope on Dec. 15, 1612, calls it like the
light of a candle seen through horn. Sir W. Herschel
imagined it was the nearest of nebulae ; that certain
parts might be only 2,000 times further off than Sirius,
but a train going constantly at the rate of sixty miles
an hour could not reach it under seventy or eighty-
thousand million years !

Antinotts.

(5.) •. 26 p. XX. Antinoi, mag. 6^ 7, dis. 3^". 20^ 6',
N. Oi«.

(6.) Nebula 11 m. 18^ 44'. s. 6^«. The peculiar
triangular shape of this neb., which has been compared
to a flight of wild ducks, may be noticed with a small
instrument.

(7.) Nebula 26 m. 18^^ 38', s. 9^«. Much fainter
than 11 M. The star 97 in Antinous varies from mag.
3^ to less than the fifth magnitude. Its period is
7 days 4 hours.

Aquaeitjs.

(8.) .• ? Aquarii, mag. 4, ^. 22^ 2', s. Of^ dis. 2"
7, in 1842, according to Smyth ; now 3-L". Well worth
watching.

(9.) .• i|r' Aquarii, mag. 5i 9. 23^ 9', s. ^^, dis.
49^". The uppermost of three similar stars, which
are thought to have a common motion.

(10.) Nebula 2 m. 2P 27', s. li«. A fine round neb.,
compared by Sir J. Herschel to " a heap of fine sand."
It seems to have been first noticed by Maraldi, in 1746,
when looking after the celebrated comet, which is said
to have had its tail divided into six parts.

Aquila — Aries. 137

Aquila,

(11.) .• 5 Aquilse, mag. 7, 8. 18^^ 40', s. 1°, dis. 13".

(12.) ; 57 Aquilse, mag. 6i, 7. 19^^ 48', s. 81°, dis. 35".

(13.) •. 15 Aquilse, mag. 6, 7J. 18^ 58', s. 4i«, dis. 35".

(14.) : 43 p. XX. Aquila, both 8J mag. 20^ 8', n. 6^°,
dis. 44".

The three stars, "a ^ y Aquilse, have been mis-
taken, by rather green hands, for Orion's Belt. M. Du-
puis fancifully thought the name was given when the
sun was near the summer solstice, and that the bird of
highest flight was chosen to express the greatest eleva-
tion of the sun." — (Smyth.) In the year 389, a new
star burst forth near a Aquilse, and vanished in three
weeks.

Aego Navis.

(15.) .• 2 ArgAs, mag. 7, 7^. 7^ 40', s, 14i«, dis. 16i".

A constellation of great antiquity. Its principal
star, Canopus, is not visible in England. Smyth says,
"Etymologists are 'crowding on,' when they derive
the word canopy from Canopus, as hath been lately
imprinted ; such sages would see our ' son of a gun *
in ITat? yvj^s,"

Aries.

(16.) ♦. 7 Arietis, mag. 4^, 5. 1^ 46', n. 18f^ dis.
8". 8.

A very pretty object for a small telescope. Hook
observed the comet of 1664 pass by this star, which,
he says, " consisted of two small stars, very near toge-
ther, a like instance to which I have not elsewhere met
with in all the heavens."

138 Aries — Bootes.

(17.) •. X Arietis, mag. 5i, 8. 1^ 51', n. 23«, dis. 37".
(18.) .. 30 Arietis, mag. 6, 7. 2^ 29', n. 24«, dis. 38".

AlJEIGA.

(19.) •. 14 Aurigse, mag. 5, 7i. 5^ 7', n. 32^^ dis.

13J".

There is another very minute companion.

26 Aurigse ought also to come within the range of
2 J in. The companion is of the 8th mag., but its
violet colour rendered it only visible to me by glimpses.
Light from Capella, the brightest star in Auriga, is
considered to be seventy years in reaching us.

Bootes.

(20.) •. K Bootis, mag. 5i, 8. 14^ 9', n. 52i«, dis.
12i".

(21.) •. 4 Bootis, mag. 4i 8. 14^ 12', n. 52°, dis. 38".
The principal star is also very closely double.
• (22.) .• TT Bootis, mag. 3i, 6. 14^ 35', n. 17", dis. 6".

(23.) .• ? Bootis, mag. 3|, 6i. 14^ 45', n. 19f, dis.
now about 5", forty years ago 7". The actual period
of the revolution of one star round the other is given
by Hind at 169 years.

(24.) : € Bootis, mag. 3, 7. 14^ 39', n. 27f , dis. 2f ".
In Arabian, izar, " a girdle." Prom the brightness of the
principal star, and colour of the companion, it is not
a very easy object even with 4 in. I have, however,
divided it very plainly in the summer of 1872, with
power 150 on 2^ in.

(26.) •. 39 Bootis, mag. 5J, BJ. 14'^ 45', n. 49i«,
dis. 31".

Bootes — Cancer, 139

(26.) •. 44Bootis, mag. 5, 6. 15^ n. 48i«, dis. 2". 9 in
1830, now 5", An interesting binary.

Arcturus, the brightest star in Bootes, will long be
memorable, on account of Donati's comet passing over
it on Oct. 5, 1858. Many will remember the glorious
sight it presented.

Date of Hesiodf ^c. — Arcturus is first mentioned by
Hesiod, from which it seems there is a difference of
40 days in the achronical rising of the star since the
days of the poet, and by allowing 50^'' annually as the
movement of the equinoxes, we obtain about 2800
years since the days of Hesiod, who must therefore
have flourished about the time of Solomon. The change
between the summer and autumn Etesian winds, being
preceded by a few days' squally weather, was ascribed
to the power of Arcturus. Horace says, " a contented
man is not troubled about the tempests or stars,'* " Nee
ssevus Arcturi cadentis impetus, aut orientis Hsedi."

(27.) Nebula, 101 m., 13^ 58'. n. 55°, very faint.

Camelopaedus.

(28.) : 232 P. xii. Cam., mag. 6, ^. 12^ 48', 84«
N., dis. 22".

Cancee.

(29.) .• L Cancri, mag. 5^, 8. 8^ 39', n. 291°, dis. 30".

One star is orange, the other blue. I have found
the colours very distinct, even with 2j in.

(30.) Cluster, 44 m. 8^ 32', n. 20J«. Visible to the
naked eye, as a little patch of hazy light. The Arabians
call it Al-m'alaf, " a stall, or den." Aratus tells us, its
dimness was regarded as a sign of coming rain.

140 Cancer — Cams Major.

As the crab walks obliquely, it figures the sun's
going back, when he has reached his highest north
point in summer.

Canes Yenatici.

(31.) •. 12 Can. Yen. (Cor CaroH), mag. 2J, 6J.
12^ 50', N. 39«, dis. 20".

A very pretty object for a small telescope. I am
able to separate it with a little pocket instrument, ^ in.
aperture. There is a story that Scarbro', the court-
physician, gazed at this star the evening before
Charles II. returned, whence its name. Cor Caroli.

(32.) Neb. 51 M. 13^^ 24', n. 48«. The wonderful spiral
neb. in Lord Rosse's telescope. This and the three
following are fine objects, even in a small instrument.

(33.) Neb. 94 m. 12'^ 45', n. 41f .

(34.) Neb. 63 m. 13^ 10', n. 42^«.

(35.) Neb. 3 m. 13^ 36', n. 29«.

Canis Majoe.

(36.) •. v' Can. Maj., mag. 6^, 8. 6^ 31', s. 18J«,
dis. 17".

Most, if not all our readers, have gazed with admira-
tion at Sirius, the lucida of this constellation, and,
indeed, of the whole heavens. It is mentioned as
a star by Hesiod, and Homer compares the flashing of
Achilles' armour to the blaze of the dog-star. The
Arabians call it Alshira, from Ash-shira-1-yemeniyah,
" the bright shining star of Yemen," or Arabia Felix.
Much has been said about the change of colour in
Sirius, as Seneca and Ptolemy call it a fine red star;

Canis Major — Capricornus. 141

and now, any of us who look through our windows in
the winter months see it as a brilliant white star. At
what time the change took place we know not. It is
difficult to reconcile a red hue with Homer's compa-
rison of the dog-star; and Smyth says the ancients
used the names of colour with great latitude, so that
the "rubra canicula" of Horace may allude to heat.

A pretty triangle of stars appears a little way above
the soutliern horizon in winter. The uppermost of
these, S Canis Majoris, is called Wezn, from Al Wezu,
" a weight," since it seems to rise with difficulty above
the horizon, as if chained to the ground. To the right of
this triangle, and far lower down, close to the horizon,
lies the constellation of Columba Noaclii, " Noah's
Dove.'' This also consists of a pretty triangle of stars.
The uppermost, a, I have seen several times ; but the
lower stars of the triangle I have never perceived
clearly but once, so low an altitude do they reach in
England.

Canis Minok.

Procyon, a Can. Min., is called Procyon from
TrpoKvcov, "the precursor dog," because it appeared in
the morning dawn before Sirius. — (Smyth.) In Proc-
tor's Star Atlas the constellation is called Felis, " the
cat," displaying unconsciousness of this fact.

Capeicoenxts.

(37.) '. o" Cap. mag. 6, 7. 20^ 22', s. 19«, dis. 22".

(38.) Neb. 30 m. 21^ 33', s.;23f . A neb. well worth
looking at. " What an immensity of space is here in-
dicated. Can such an arrangement be intended, as

142 Capricornus — Cassiopea,

a bungling spouter of the hour (Dr. Whewell, of Cam-
bridge ?) insists, for the mere appendage to the spec of
a world on which we dwell, to soften the darkness of
its petty midnight." — (Smyth.) Eesolved into stars
by Herschel. a Capricorni is a double- star to the
naked eye, if a good one. "Macrobius says, that as
the sun approached this sign he quitted his lower
course, and so the figure of a goat was chosen to repre-
sent it, because that animal climbs the sides of moun-
tains. Cancer and Capricorn form the boundaries of
the sun's course in the zodiac, the portse solis. The
Platonists held that souls descended from heaven into
mortal bodies through one, and when released from
the body re-ascended through that of Capricorn, which
was called the gate of the gods, as the former was
called that of men." — (Smyth.)

Cassiopea.

7] Cassiopeee has a 7^ mag. companion,'which, though
9" from the principal star, is most difficult to catch,
with 2i in. from its purple hue.

Above the well-known w, of which this constellation
consists, Tycho's new star burst out in 1572, and,
after becoming visible in the daytime, dwindled away.
Prom similar appearances in 945 and 1264, Sir J.
Herschel fancied a return about 1872. It will be well,
therefore, to direct our gaze to this part of the sky
every clear night for a few years t6 come.

(39.) 30 H VI. Cassiopese will be found a splendid
cluster of minute points of light.

Cepheus — Cetus. 143

CEPHErS.

(40.) •. /3 Cephei, 21i^ 27'. n. 70«, dis. 14". The
mag. of the principal star is given by Smyth at 3, by
Darby at 4^; that of the smaller has been rated at
7 and 8, " called Alphirk, from Arabian Kawakib-al-
firk, ' stars of the flock,' which a and ^ were supposed
to represent. Flocks constituted the natural imagery
among the nomad tribes." — {Smyth.)

(41.) •. h Cephei, mag. 4i, 7. 22^^ 24', n. 57f «, dis. 41".
The chief star varies in brightness.

(42.) .• ^ Cephei, mag. 5, 7. 22^ 0, n. 64«, dis. 6".

(43.) .-Up. XXII. Cephei, mag. 6, 6i 22^^ 4', n. 58f «,
dis. 21". The companion star is very closely double.

7 Cephei, according to Smyth, would be the Pole-
star in 2400 years. Its movements, he says, may then
puzzle the unborn, for it has a decided motion through
space.

Cetus.

(44.) .• 37 Ceti, mag. 6, 7\. 1^ 8', s. 8f, dis. 51".

(45.) •. 66 Ceti, mag. 7, 8i 2^ 6', s. 3«, dis. 15i".

(46.) .. 7 Ceti, mag. 3, 7. 2^ 37', n. 2f «, dis. 2" 6. The
larger star yellow, the smaller blue. I found the defi-
nition round and good, with a power of 200 on 2\ in.
Powers of 100 and 150 shewed it but imperfectly.

(47.) Neb. 77 m. 2^^ 36', s. Oi".

There is a star. in Cetus, called o, or, more com-
monly, Mira, " the wonderful," which shines for a fort-
night like a second magnitude star; then, diminishing,
it becomes invisible for five months, and increases again
for three months. The period is generally 322 days,
but there are irregularities.

144 Coma Berenices — Corvus.

Coma Beeei^ices.

(48.) .• 24 C. Beren., mag. 5i 7. 12^ 29', n. 19%
dis. 21". The larger star orange, the other emerald.

(49.) Neb. 84 h i. 12^^ 30', n. 26f . Why is it omitted
by Smyth ?

(50.) Neb. 64 m. 12^^ 50', n. 22\\

(51.) Neb. 53 m. 13^^ 7', n. 19«.

(52.) Neb. 92 h i. 12^ 28', n. 284«.

(53.) Neb. 85 m. 12^^ 18', n. 19«.

(54.) Neb. 83 h i. 12^ 25', n. 27«.

The mythological origin of the constellation C. Beren.
(Berenice's hair) is, that it was to console a lady for
the loss of a lock of her hair, which had been dedi-
cated to Venus, on account of a victory of her hus-
band, Ptolemy Euergetes.

COEONA BOEEALIS.

(55.) .• fCor.Bor., mag. 5, 6. 15^ 34', n. 37«, dis. 6".

(56.) •. a- Cor. Bor., mag. 6, 6i. 16^ 10', n. M\\
Forty years ago, we should have gazed in vain at this
star with a 2^ in. Its distance then was scarcely
over 1". Now it is over 3", and I find it easy with
a power of 100. It is a binary star, but the period
is uncertain.

COEVUS.

(57.) •. 3 Corvi, mag. 3, S\. 12^ 23', s. 15|°, dis. 24".
I have often found the little companion very hard to
catch, from its dark hue, and the brightness of the
principal star.

Crater — Belphinus, 145

Cratee.

One star, 17, of this constellation, mag. 5i, 7,*dis. 9",
ought to be seen with a moderate instrument, but it is
very low on the horizon.

Cygnus.

(58.) •. p Cygni, mag. 3, 7. 19^ 25', n. 27|«, dis.
34'\ The larger star, yellow; the companion, blue.
The colours stand out in beautiful contrast even with
2iin.

(59.) .• 61 Cygni, mag. 5i 6. 2P 1', n. 38«. Thirty
years ago the distance between the two stars was 16'',
• now 19J". One of the nearest stars in the sky to us.

(60.) .• 16 Cygni, mag. 6i, 7. 19^ 38', n. 50i«,
dis. 37".

(61.) .• tju Cygni, mag. 5, 6. 21^^ 38', n. 28i«,
dis. b\'\

(62.) •. 278 p XIX. Cygni, mag. 6, 8. 19^^ 41', n. 34|-«,
dis. 39".

(63.) .• 276 p XIX. Cygni, mag. 8, 84. 19^^ 41',
N. 35f«, dis. 15".

(64.) •. X Cygni, mag. 5, 9. 19^^ 41', n. 33i«,
dis. 26".

Delpkotus.

(65.) •• 7 Delphini, 20^ 41', n. 15f , dis. llf. A
very pretty object in a small telescope. All our works
on double-stars give the magnitude at 4, 7. On Dec.
13, 1862, I found them almost equal, and so they
still remain.

(66.) .. 178 p XX. Delphini, mag. 7i 8. 20^ 25', n.
10J«, dis. 14".

L

146 Draco. — Gemini.

Deaco.
{^7.) \ ^ Draconis, mag. 5i 6. 17^ 44', n. 72J«,

dis. 3r.

(68.) •. 40 Draconis, mag. 5i, 6. 18^ 10', n. 80«,
dis. 20".

(69.) : /A Draconis, 17^ 3', n. 54f°. The distance,
forty years ago, was 3V', now 2J''. Smyth and Webb
give mag. 4, but Dawes more properly says 6 mag.
This I find to be the case, the star being but just
visible to the naked eye.

a Draconis was once brighter than it is now. " It
is called Thuban, from the Arabian, al thuban, 'the
Dragon,' upwards of 4,600 years ago the Pole-star of
the Chaldseans. In that remote age, it must have
remained stationary, though it is now 25*^ from the
Vol^r— {Smyth.)

Eqtjtjletjs.

(70.) .• 355 p XX. Equulei, mag. both S\. 20^ 46',
N. 6|-°, dis. 40".

Ertdants.
(71.) .• 55 Eridani, mag. both 7\, 4^ 37', s. 9«, dis.
10". Some have thought Eridanus was originally in-
tended to indicate the Nile.

Gemini.

(72.) •. a Gemin. (Castor), mag. 3, 3i. 7^ 26', n. 32i«,
dis. now 5f", forty years ago it was 4f". The amateur
will find it to be the finest double-star in our northern
hemisphere. The period in which one component re-
volves round the other is not quite certain. Bradley

Gemini — Hercules. 147

gives us their position in 1719. " Among the orientals,
Gemini was represented as a pair of kids, denoting
that part of spring when these animals appear, but the
Greeks changed them to two children/' — (Smyth.) The
Arabians drew them as a couple of peacocks. Their
religion prevented them drawing the human figure.

(73.) •. 15 Gemin., mag. 6, 8. 6^^ 20', n. 21°, dis. 33".

(74.) •. 20 Gemin., mag. 8, 84, 6^^25', n. 18°, dis. 20".

Heectjles.

(75.) .• a Herculis, mag. 34, 54. 17^ 9', n. 144°, dis.
44 '• Owing to the flare, I find this fine object trouble-
some, except on very quiet nights, with a small tele-
scope. Hercules is represented on the maps and globes,
as a man kneeling. Some have fancied this indicates
the bruising of the serpent's head.

(76.) -./c Hercules, mag. 54, 7. 16^^2',n. 17i°,dis.3r.

(77.) : 100 Herculis, mag. both 7. 18^^ 2', n. 26°,
dis. 14".

(78.) : S Herculis, mag. 44, 8. 17^ 10', n. 25°, dis.
19" now. Formerly it was wider, about 26", forty
years ago. The companion being a dull grape colour,
I only get it by glimpses with 2^ in.

(79.) .• p Herculis, mag. 4, 54. 17^ 19', n. 37|°,
dis. 3f' .

(80.) •• 95 Herculis, mag. 54, 6. 17^56', n. 214°,
dis. 6".

(81.) Neb. 13 M., 16^^ 37', n. 36f°. This is a superb
object; just visible to the naked eye as a spot, on
a dark night. It was noticed by Dr. Halley in the
early part of the last century, and he admits there
may be more.

148 Hercules — Libra.

(82.) Neb. 92 m., 17^' 13', n. 42\\ Even brighter
in the centre than 13 m., but not quite so large.

Hyde A.
€ Hydrse, mag. 4, SJ, dis. 4" now, and widening;
also 108 p VIII. Hydrse, mag. 6, 7, dis. 10" ; and neb.
68 M., in this constellation, should be caught by a small
telescope.

Laceeta.

(83.) •• 82 Lacertse, mag. both 6i 22^ 30', n. 39«,
dis. 23".

Leo.

(84.) •• 7 Leonis, mag. 2, 4. 10^^ 13', n. 20\\ dis.
3" now, formerly less. The colours are orange and
yellow. A binary star, period perhaps 1,000 years.

(85.) Neb. 95 m., lO'^ 37', n. \2\\ Just discernible
with 2|in.

{m,) Neb. 65 and 66 m., W 13', n. 13f«. Two
nebulae of an elongated form.

(87.) Neb. 13 h i., 10^' 59', n. Of.

The longitude of Regulus, the lucida of Leo, has
been made a step for ascertaining the recession of the
equinoctial points through successive ages.

Lepus.
(88.) Neb. 79 m., 5^^ 19', s. 24f .

Libra.

(89.) Neb. 5 m., 15^ 12', n. 24°. A splendid heap
of stars.

a Librae will be seen by an opera-glass to have

Libra — Lyra. 149

a companion, called Kiffa Australis, from the Arabian,
al kifFah-al-jeniibiyah, " the southern scale." ^ Libr^
is of a peculiar green colour. A Chaldsean observation
of the approach of Mars to this star, is recorded in the
476th year of Narbonassar, or 271 B.C. Called Kiffa
Borealis, from al-kiffah-al-shemaliyah, " the northern
scale."

Lynx.

It is very difficult to find an object here, there being
no bright star to point to. Those who would examine
the Lynx ought, said old Hevelius, to be lynx-eyed.
(90.) .• 12 Lyncis, mag. 6, 7\. 6^ 35', n. 59i«,

dis. sr.

(91.) .• 19 Lyncis, mag. 7, 8. 7\ 12', n. 554«,
dis. 14r.

Lyea.

(92.) .•; 6 Lyrae, mag. 5, 64 ; 5, 6\. 18^ 40', n. 39i«.
Dis. of the first pair, 3" ; of the other, 2^'. To a very
sharp eye, or to an opera-glass, there is a pair of stars,
and on examining these with the telescope, both come
out double. One pair will be found closer than the
other, but both form a very pretty object for a mode-
rate instrument. 150 on 2^ in. has exhibited both
very plainly to me. e and its wide companion are con-
sidered to be connected. Smyth tells us, ''it may be
roundly stated that b will revolve around A in 2,000
years, c take a circuit round d in half that time ; per-
haps both systems may go round the central ones in
something less than a million years. But what is this
to the annus magnus of the whole creation."

150 Lyra — Ophinchus.

(^3.) .• ^ Lyr^, mag. 3, 8. 18^^ 45', n. 33i«, dis. 46".
The larger star varies a magnitude in brightness.

(94.) .• ? Lyr», mag. 5, 5J. 18^ 40', n. 374«, dis. 44".

(95.) .. 7) iyrse, mag. 5, 9. 19^^ 9', n. 39«, dis. 28".
Though the companion is 9th mag., it is just discernible
with 2^ in.

(96.) Neb. 56 m., 19^ 11', n. 30«. Faint with 2iin.

(97.) Neb. 57 m., 18^ 49',. n. 33«. The celebrated
ring neb. Of course this figure will not be seen with
a small instrument.

MONOCEKOS.

(98.) '. 8 Monoc, mag. 54, 8. 6^ 17', n. 4J«, dis. 13".

(99.) .: 11 Monoc, mag. 64, 7, 8. 6\ 23', s. 7«, dis.
7" and 94'' from the principal star. With a powerful
instrument. Sir W. Herschel calls this one of the most
beautiful sights in the sky.

Ophinchus.

(100.) •. 53 Oph., mag. 6, 8. 17^ 28', n. 9J«, dis. 41".

(101.) : 39 Oph., mag. 54, 74- 17^ 10', s. 241«,
dis. 12".

(102.) .. 61 Oph., mag. both 74. 17'^ 38', n. 2|-«,
dis. 21".

(103.) .• 67 Oph., mag. 4, 8. 17^ 54', n. 3«, dis. 55".

(104.) .. 70 Oph., mag. 44, 7. 171^ 59', n. 24^ dis. 4i"
now, formerly wider. It is a binary star, the revolu-
tion about 90 years. Other periods have been ima-
gined. In 1779 Herschel found the two component
stars on the parallel. This star is considered difficult
of observation, from the rings of light about it.

(105.) Neb. 12 m., 16^ 40', s. lf«.

Ophinchus — Orion, 151

(106.) Neb. 10 M., 16^ 50', s. 4«.
(107.) Neb. 19 m., 16^^ 55', s. 26«.
(108.) Neb. 14 m., 17^^ 31', s. 3i°.
All the above nebulae will be found pretty bright,
and well worth inspecting.

Oeion.

(109.) :•. e Orionis, Neb. and multiple star, 5^^. 29',
s. 5^°. Ptolemy and Tycho marked 6 a 3rd mag. star.
A small telescope, with a power of 100, reveals four
stars resting on, and surrounded by, a misty glow of
light. The mag. of the stars are 6, 7, 7i, 8. Power-
ful instruments shew more than four stars here : some
observers make 9 or 10. Two years ago the fifth star
was said to have been detected by telescopes of only
3 in. aperture, so it may be variable. This splendid
nebula seems to have been first noticed by Huygens
in 1656.

(110.) •: 0- Orionis, mag. 4, 8, 7. 5^ 32', s. 2f°, dis.
12" and 42". Triple to a small telescope ; but Struve,
with the Dorpat refractor, reckoned eighteen stars in
the group; and Schroeter, with a 25 feet reflector,
could see twelve.

(111.) •. B Orionis, mag. 2,7. 5^ 25', s. OJ^ dis. 53".
The uppermost of the three conspicuous stars called
Orion's belt. Called Mintaka, from Mintakah-al-jauza,
" the giant's belt.'' The belt has been called Jacob's
Staff, the Three Kings, the Ell and Yard, &c.

(112.) •. 23 Orionis, mag. 5, 7. 5^ 16', n. 3i«,
dis. 32".

(113.) •. X Orionis, mag. 4, 6. 5^ 28', n. 9f , dis. 4i".

(114.) Neb. 78 m., 5^ 40', n. 0\

152 Orion — Perseus.

Two bright stars, a and 7, form the shoulders of
Orion, a is called Betelgeuze, from Ibt-al-jauza, "the
giant's shoulder." " Hood says, The reason this fellow,
Orion, was placed in the heavens, was to teach men not
to be too confident in their own strength. The Uni-
versity of Leipsic proposed to call the belt and sword
of Orion by the name of Napoleon. Was that learned
body in possession of a copy of Tom Hood's Treatise?"
— (Smyth.)

y Orionis, a fine red star, is called Bellatrix. Its
gender, feminine, puzzled Hoode, who knew not why
it should be feminine, " except that women born under
this constellation shall have mighty tongues."

Pegasus.
(115.) .• 3 Pegasi, mag. 6, 8. 21^^ 31', n. 6«, dis. 39".
(116.) .• 216 p XXIII. Pegasi, both 8^. 23^. 46',

N. iiJ-«, dis. isr.

(117.) Neb. 15 M., 21h 24', n. 114«. A conspicuous
object.

f Pegasi is called Homam, from Sad-al-homam, " the
hero's happy star" of the Arabians. Included in the
" fortunate stars ;" a group so called, because they ap-
pear to the Bedouin Arabs at the dawn of day as
spring comes on.

Peeseus.

(118.) .• 97Persei, mag. 5, 84. 2M1', n. 55i«, dis. 28".

There are nine stars in a group about here, and
some are said to form a miniature representation of
Jupiter and his satellites.

(119.) .. 220 p II. Persei, mag. 6, 8. 2'^ 52', n. 51|«,
dis. 124".

Perseus — Sagittarius. 153

(120.) •. near 12 Persei, mag. 7i 8. 2\ 34', n. 39f ,
dis. 23".

(121.) Great cluster, 33 h vi. 2^^ 10', n. 56i«. Visi-
ble to the naked eye. With a low power, the telescope
is filled with myriads of stars.

Pisces.

(122.) .• ^/r Piscium, mag. both 6\, 0^ 59', n. 20|°,
dis. 30".

(123.) .• a Piscium, mag. 5, 6. l^ 55', n. 21°, dis.
3:^" ; called Okda from 'okda-al-khaitain, a " knot of
the two threads.*'

(124.) •. 100 Piscium, mag. 7, 8. 1^ 28', n. llf^
di,s. 16".

(125.) •. ^Piscium, mag. 6, 8. 1^ 7', n. 6f, dis, 23".

(126.) •• 77 Piscium, mag. 74, 8. 0^ 59', n. 4|«,
dis. 32".

Sagitta.

(127.) Neb. 71 m., 19^ 48', n. 184«.

^fu.ctolt Libmiy

Sagittarius.

(128.) •. 54 Sag., mag. 5i, 8. 19^^ 33', s. 164«,
dis. 28".

(129.) Neb. 22 m., 18^ 28', s. 24°. A fine round
mass of stars. It attracted attention as far back as
1665.

(130.) Neb. 28 m., 18^ 17', s. 25«.

(131.) Neb. 17 M., 18^' 13', s. 16f°. More properly,
in Scutum Sobieski.

(132.) Neb. 20 m., 17^^ 52', s. 23°.

154 Scorpio — Taurus.

SCOEPIO.

A beautiful constellation, which glitters low in the
south in the brief interval of the summer nights.

(133.) •. 13 Scorpii, mag. 2, 5^. 15^ 58', s. 194«,
dis. 13".

(134.) .• V Scorpii, mag. 4, 7. 16^ 4', s. 19«, dis. 40".
With a very good telescope, the smaller star is double
also. As Herschel and Smyth do not speak of this,
it must have come out since their time.

(135.) Neb. 4 m., 16^ 16', s. 26{^,

a Scorpii, a brilliant red star, is called Antares, 'Av-
Tdp7)9, i.e. rivalling Mars in splendour. Scorpio is
seen, says Sherborne, to crawl towards our meridian
at midnight about the end of May.

Seepens.

(136.) .• e Serpentis, mag. 44, 5. 18^ 50', n. 4«, dis.
22". A very small instrument makes this a pretty
pair. I have seen it well with a deep eye-piece fitted
to a small pocket-telescope.

(137.) •. 8 Serpentis, mag. 3, 5. 15^ 29', n. 11«, dis.
3|". Binary.

Sextans.
(138.) Neb. 4 h. i., 10^ 8', n. 4«.

Tafeus.

(139.) •. <j) Tauri, mag. 6, 84. 4^ 12', n. 27«, dis. 56".
(140.) •. X Tauri, mag. 6, 8. 4^ 15', n. 25i«, dis. 19".
(141.) .• 62 Tauri, mag. 7, 84. 4^ 16', n. 24«, dis. 29".

Taurus — the Pleiades. 155

(142.) .• 257 p IV. Tauri, mag. 7, 8. 4^^ 52', n. 14i«,
dis. 39".

(143.) Neb. 1 M., 5^ 27' n. 22«. Called the crab neb.
Resolved into stars by Lord Rosse. It was discovered
by Messier in 1758, while observing a comet.

4,000 years ago Taurus led the celestial signs, and
was their leader for 2,000 years. The chief star, Alde-
baran, the hindmost, because he drives the Pleiades
before him, is a bright red one. It is situated in
a group of stars, called the Hyades, precisely in the
form of the letter V. The group was called T-psilon,
the Pythagorean symbol of human life, from its shape.
Next in the group to Aldebaran, comes 6 Tauri, which
the naked eye shews to consist of two ; and enormously
apart as they are, they are suspected of physical con-
nection.

P Tauri is figured on the tip of the horn of Taurus,
and so at the greatest distance from the hoof. This
has been thought to give rise to the phrase of not
knowing b from a bull's foot.

The Pleiades is a cluster of stars in Taurus of even
greater interest than the Hyades. Much attention
has been directed to them in latter years, from the
discovery of a supposed variable nebula in them. Al-
cyone, the brightest of the Pleiades, (round which the
whole visible creation has been supposed to be moving)
is called by the Arabians Jauza, " the walnut." Homer
speaks of six stars in the Pleiades. Hipparchus men-
tions seven. A small telescope readily shews a hun-
dred. The Pleiades are meutioned by Job, between
three and four thousand years ago. They have been re-
presented in ancient times as full-grown women, and as

156 The Pleiades — Ursa Major.

a bunch of grapes. Hesiod, nearly 1000 B.C., has
a passage on the Pleiades, which is thus rendered
by Cooke : —

" There is a time when forty days they lie,
And forty nights concealed from human eye ;
But in the course of the revolving year,
When the swain sharps the scythe again appear."

Triangultim.
(144) '. X Trianguli, mag. 5i, 7. 2^ 5', n. 29f^

dis. 3r.

(145.) Neb. 33 m., P 27', n. 30°. A very large ob-
ject, but faint.

TJesa Major.

(146.) .• ? Ursse Maj., mag. 3, 5. 13^^ 19', n. 35f ,
dis. 14-i-". One of the finest objects in the sky. The
colours are white and emerald. Noticed in the year
1700 by Godfrey Kirch, and his wife Mary Margaret.
A little distance from ^ the naked, eye perceives a small
star, called Alcor. This is, of course, very widely sepa-
rated in the telescope. Alcor is called by the Persians
Saidak, " the test," a test of vision in their latitude,
where the Great Bear lies low on the horizon. The
Arabians have a proverb, '^ Thou canst see Alcor, but
thou canst not see the full moon."

(147.) Neb. 81 m. and 82 m., 9^^ 45', n. 69f«. Very
near together.

(148.) Neb. 97 m., 11^^ 7', n. 55|-«. Pale, but large.
From its curious appearance in Lord Eosse's telescope,
it has gained the name of the owl nebula.

Ursa Minor — Virgo. 157

' Uksa Minoe.

(149.) •• TT Urs9o Min., mag. 6, 7. 15^ 37', n. 81«,
dis. 30".

a Ursse Minoris, generally called the Pole-star, is
a rare test for a telescope between 2 and 3 inches in
aperture, the companion being of barely the 9th mag.
I have been able to glimpse it with 2\ in. The Pole-
star has been called Kotb, '* a spindle," as the con-
stellation is swung round the Pole. Its use in navi-
gation seems to have been known to the Phenicians.

Virgo.

(150.) : 7 Yirginis, mag. 4, 4. 12^ 35', s. Of«. If
we had gazed at this object in the year 1836, we should
have found it round, but since then its companion has
so far come out, as to be distant 44''. The revolution
of one star round the other is performed in something
under 200 years. Cassini, in 1720, witnessing an oc-
cultation of it, by the moon, saw one star disappear
30" before the other.

Hipparchus compared the place of Spica Virginis
with what Timocharis and Aristyllus had laid down
170 years previously, and from this, lie ascertained
that the equinoctical points had gone backward.

e Virginis is called Vindemiatrix in the Alphonsine
tables, an adaptation of the longer word Provindemi-
ator, a translation of TrpoTpvyijrrjp, given to the star
because it rises in the morning just before the vintage.
" It is called Mukdira-al-kitaf, ' the forerunner of the
vintage,' among the Arabians." — {Smyth)

If the amateur will pass his telescope over the

158 Virgo — Vulpecula,

northern parts of Virgo, and over Coma Berenices,
many nebulae will enter the field of view, but gene-
rally very faint.

Five of these nebulse I have found more conspicuous
than the rest.

YULPECITLA.

(151.) .• 320 p XIX. Vulp., mag. both 7. 19^ 48',
N. 20«, dis. 43".

(152.) Neb. 27 m., 19^ 54', n. 221". A very fine
object, known from its figure by the name of the
"dumb-bell "neb.

Note on Aries. — Aries is marked by a neat triangle
of three stars. The sun's place at the time of the
Crucifixion was undoubtedly in the head of Aries. It
may have been divinely ordered that during the mira-
culous darkness, these three stars should be seen close
to the sun. They were said by the ancient Greeks to
contain the name of the Deity, and to be a most
Divine emblem. It may not, then, be going too far,
to see in the stars a /3 7 Arietis an emblem of the
blessed Trinity. The mathematical student may be
interested by a pamphlet in the library of the Eoyal
Astronomical Society, entitled " Creed of S. Athana-
sius proved by a Mathematical Parallel." The writer
says in his preface : " It is appalling to see so many
depart from the Church, or remain dissatisfied, be-
cause the powers of their minds are not comprehensive
enough to understand how that most beautiful com-
bination of heavenly power and grace can exist, as
set forth in the Creed. As we generally rest more
satisfied on any point above the comprehension of our

Design of the Stars. 159

weak understandings, when we can bring into juxta-
position a parallel proof to support it, and as this will
shew clearly to the mathematician that such a com-
bination as that expressed in the Creed can take place
with mathematical accuracy and magnitude, who that
understands this can for a moment doubt the essence
of the Omnipotent Deity, or the attributes of the
blessed Trinity ?"

Many celestial sights, in this way, may be caught
sight of by means of a small instrument, and, with
every increase of telescopic power, more and more stars
come into view, of whose existence we were absolutely
ignorant till the invention of the telescope. From the
Creation to the time of Galileo mankind were only
acquainted with a thousand or two of the heavenly
bodies, not the most infinitesimal portion of the whole
universe. For what purpose, then, were all these
enormous globes created ? Certainly not to cast any
light on our earth. Another moon, hundreds of times
smaller than our own, would have done that better.
Not to ornament our nocturnal skies, since all but
a very few are too faint to be seen by our unaided
eyes. Look at our own solar system. See what means
there are for giving light, the further we recede from
the sun. We have but one moon; Jupiter has four,
Saturn eight, and so on. See the provision we behold
for other races of animated beings. If vast worlds were
dreary wastes, without intelligent life, would this be
consistent with the wisdom and beneficence of the Crea-
tor ? . Matter is evidently framed for living creatures ;
otherwise there is no purpose in it. Whether we are
the only race of intelligent beings that have sinned, or

160 Design of the Stars.

whether our Lord's sojourn in this world will benefit
other worlds, we cannot conjecture ; for " now we know
in part, but hereafter we shall know, even as also we
are known/'

'^ all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.'* — Benedicite.

Note. — In the case of the foregoing double stars,
the dots simply indicate their relative positions; the
actual magnitude of the two components, and the dis-
tance by which they are separated in space, being
stated immediately afterwards.

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